Off the wire
• French stock market index down 0.64 pct on Tuesday  • Russian embassy in Damascus says not aware of alleged killed Russian soldiers  • Conditions set for Pistorius's release on parole  • Urgent: Xi says China, Britain becoming community of shared interests  • No agreement reached by Macedonian party leaders, says EU's Hahn  • Serbia's capital city marks WWII liberation  • Abbas: Palestinians' unbearable condition roots of tensions  • U.S. stocks trade mixed on corporate earnings, data  • South Asia to jointly build Maritime Silk Road, says Sri Lankan parliament speaker  • (Xi's UK Visit) Interview: Xi's visit very important step in development of China-UK ties -- UK official  
You are here: 　 Home

Ireland's data watchdog ordered to investigate Facebook

Xinhua, October 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Irish data watchdog on Tuesday was ordered to investigate a data privacy complaint by Austrian law student Max Schrems against U.S. firm Facebook.

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner has now pledged to the High Court that it will investigate the original complaint as quickly as possible.

"I welcome today's ruling from Judge Hogan which brings these proceedings to a conclusion," Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon said.

"My office will now proceed to investigate the substance of the complaint with all due diligence," she said.

The decision followed a ruling by the European Court of Justice on Oct. 6 that a legal mechanism allowing U.S. technology companies in Europe to move data back to the United States was invalid.

Schrems has campaigned against Facebook for privacy violation, including its violations of European privacy laws and alleged transfer of personal data to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) as part of the NSA's surveillance programs.

Schrems had filed a complaint against Facebook Ireland Ltd with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner as Ireland is where Facebook has its European headquarters. However, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner rejected the complaint, saying there was no case to answer. Endit