Abstract

PUERTO, María Isabel  and  SFERRAZZA-TAIBI, Pietro. The Schrems judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union: A firm step in the defense of the right to privacy in the context of the transnational mass surveillance. Rev. Derecho Estado [online]. 2018, n.40, pp.209-236. ISSN 0122-9893.  https://doi.org/10.18601/01229893.n40.09.

The leaks made by Edward Snowden showed the world the existence of mass surveillance programs implemented by the United States and other allies. Such programs, supposedly, were aimed at the collection of information for the prevention and suppression of terrorism, but in practice involved unacceptable violations of the fundamental right to privacy not only of American citizens, but also of other nationalities. Various actors of the United Nations and other international organizations have responded by elaborating different reports that show concerns about the phenomenon of transnational surveillance of masses, and which seek to oppose the human rights discourse as a limit against interference to privacy. In this context, the Court of Justice of the European Union in the year 2015 delivered the Schrems sentence that reversed a decision of the European Commission on the safe harbor agreement governing the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States. This paper critically analyzes this sentence, because it offers interesting contributions to the protection of the rights to privacy and the protection of personal data, and has become a leading case of reference for the resolution of similar cases.

Keywords : Mass surveillance; protection of personal data; right to privacy; Safe Harbor Agreement; Court of Justice of the European Union.

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