EU court to issue Facebook privacy decision in June

An Austrian law student is seeking to prevent Facebook from being able to hand over European user data to the U.S

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is scheduled to rule on June 24 whether or not Facebook can hand over its European users' data to the U.S. under the Safe Harbor directive. An Austrian law student, Max Schrems, is suing Facebook over the issue.

Safe Harbor is a directive that allows U.S.-based companies companies operating in the EU send these users' personal data back to the U.S. provided they comply with several principles, including giving these users the ability to opt-out of data collection altogether.

Schrems has argued that the U.S. no longer qualifies for Safe Harbor because its intelligence agencies regularly access users' private data without their knowledge or consent. The ECJ heard arguments on that matter on March 24.