European Court and Data (again)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-06/european-unions-top-court-strikes-down-us-eu-data-transfer/6832206

A deal that allows thousands of companies to transfer data from Europe to the United States has been ruled invalid, in a landmark decision that follows revelations of mass US government snooping. Many companies, particularly tech firms, have said the Safe Harbour agreement helps them get round cumbersome checks to transfer data between offices on both sides of the Atlantic, including payroll and human resources information and also lucrative data used for online advertising. But a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) could sound the death knell for the system, set up by the European Commission 15 years ago and used by more than 4,000 firms including IBM, Google and Ericsson.