Electronic surveillance

Snowden Revelations Continue to Pave the Way for Surveillance Accountability

Last week, the European Court of Justice issued its landmark Schrems decision showcasing the powerful reverberations the Snowden disclosures continue to have around the world. It held that due to the NSA’s mass surveillance programs, a European person’s data may not be stored in the United States. The court invalidated the ironically named “Safe Harbor” agreement, which allowed U.S. technology companies to transfer data freely between Europe and the United States – as long as they could self-certify that the data was subject to privacy protections.

Snowden’s whistleblowing disclosure showed that NSA surveillance of personal information on the Internet is indiscriminate, overbroad, and provides no ability for individual redress. Based on those facts, the Court found volitions of the European right to privacy, right to the protection of personal data, and the right to a fair trial.