On March 24, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") held an oral hearing in Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner. The case involves a privacy activist challenging the Irish Data Protection Commissioner's decision not to investigate claims about improper data transfers to the U.S. by a social media website. Referred to the ECJ by the High Court of Ireland, the case raises questions of whether a national data protection authority is bound by the Commission's prior Safe Harbor decision or whether the national authority must investigate the data practices of the third country. An opinion is expected in June.
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