Information security

Facebook slammed in Europe over U.S. spying

...The advocate general at the European Court of Justice believes that the deal is no longer valid in the light of allegations of mass spying by the U.S. intelligence services. It said individual countries should have the right to ban U.S. companies from transferring data in the future.

The court said the easy access to the data by the U.S. authorities "constitutes an interference with the right to respect for private life and the right to protection of personal data." It also said that U.S. intelligence services were carrying out "mass, indiscriminate surveillance."

The case against Facebook was brought forward by Austrian law student Max Schrems. He said he was uncomfortable with the way Facebook transfers his personal data to the U.S., where it can be accessed by authorities with little respect for his privacy. He used documents exposed by the Wikileaks whistleblower Edward Snowden to illustrate the problem.