Amid allegations asserting a division of Facebook shared EU users' data with the National Security Agency, a High Court judge with jurisdiction over the social networking company's European headquarters stated current EU rules prevent an official probe into the matter.
The appeal to the High Court came after a privacy advocate insisted that Ireland's National Data Protection authorities shouldn't have dismissed requests to look into the matter of Facebook's alleged transfer of EU user data to the U.S. intelligence agency.
Because Facebook's European arm is located in Dublin, Ireland, escalation of the matter fell under the jurisdiction of High Court Justice Gerard Hogan. Hogan, however, refused to pursue the matter, citing the Safe Harbor Agreement in place between the U.S. and the European Union.
Facebook reportedly claimed it complied with specific requests from U.S. intelligence agencies when it handed over the user data. The company stated that its actions fell in accordance with European laws.
The Safe Harbor Agreement would have to be overturned for the High Court to conduct a probe in the privacy matter, stated Hogan in defense of his refusal to hear the case. The justice stated that he would confer with the European Court of Justice to determine if Safe Harbor, in this case, infringes on the basic rights of European citizens that are guaranteed under the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Allegations of Facebook's unsavory sharing of user data with the NSA stemmed from claims made by the infamous whistle-blower, Edward Snowden. Snowden alleged that Facebook shared data on EU users with the NSA as part of the agency's Prism program, a data-mining program that was only confirmed to exist in June 2013.
In light of Snowden's allegations, Max Schrems, a privacy advocate from Austria, has pushed his "Europe v Facebook" claim to draw more attention to matter and to spark an official investigation. Schrems stated that his campaign questions the execution of Safe Harbor, rather than arguing its validity.
In related news, the U.S. Supreme Court was scheduled to hear a case concerning free speech and the dissemination of threatening language on Facebook. After Anthony Elonis posted threats stating he'd kill his wife and other individuals on Facebook, two lower courts ruled against Elonis, saying his statements crossed the line allowed under free speech to criminality.
The Supreme Court's ruling could update precedence on the matter, which was last set in 2003 when the court ruled that cross-burning isn't always a threatening action.
