EU citizens told to close their Facebook accounts to avoid snooping from US security services

A CASE before European Court of Justice is calling for radical changes following Edward Snowden’s revelations of surveillance by the NSA.

Close my Facebook accounts? What?!

THE European Commission has advised EU citizens to deactivate their Facebook accounts if they want avoid snooping from US security services.

This was the warning given by EC lawyer Bernhard Schima during a case brought by privacy campaigner Maximilian Schrems.

The case of Maximillian Schrems vs. Irish Data Protection Commissioner and Digital Rights Ireland Limited is focused on the current Safe Harbour framework, which covers the transmission of EU citizens’ data across to the US.

Plaintiff Max Schrems argues the agreement no longer guarantees the privacy of European residents following Edward Snowden’s revelations of widespread surveillance by the NSA.

Edward Snowden

Supported by lawyers representing the governments of Belgium, Poland and Austria, the case collects complaints lodged against Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Microsoft-owned Skype and Yahoo.

“Mass surveillance is manifestly incompatible with the fundamental right to privacy and data protection,” argued Noel Travers, a lawyer for Mr. Schrems, before the court.

Schrems’ team declared they want the Safe Harbour agreement to be scrapped in order to make data transfers from Europe to the US more difficult.

They have also called for the Dublin Data Protection Commissioner to audit the exchange of personal data with US security agencies.

The counterargument, presented largely by Ireland and the commission, claims the Safe Harbor is a politically and economically necessary framework that is still under negotiation.

They raised concerns about the negative impact scrapping the framework could have on European trade relations with the US.

Despite admitting it cannot guarantee adequate protection of data at the moment, the commission said it was working toward better protection of EU citizen rights with a 13-point reform plan.

The defendants asked the court to allow the reform to continue because it will maintain the ability for commerce to run smoothly in the interim.

A ruling by the European Court of Justice is expected to present by 24 June.

The news comes as the Abbott government passed controversial data retention laws though parliament meaning Australians will have two years of their metadata stored by phone and internet provider.