Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner (Joined by Digital Rights Ireland) [Schrems I] | Law Case @QuimbeeDotCom
Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner (Joined by Digital Rights Ireland) [Schrems I] | Law Case  @QuimbeeDotCom
Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Get more case briefs explained with Quimbee. Quimbee has over 42,700 case briefs (and counting) keyed to 988 casebooks ► quimbee.com/case-briefs-overview

Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner (Joined by Digital Rights Ireland) [Schrems I]
European Court of Justice
Case C-362/14 (2015)

European Union regulations strictly control the transfer of personal data from data controlling entities in Europe to countries outside the EU referred to as third countries.

The regulations require third countries to ensure an adequate level of data protection.

In data protection commissioner versus Facebook Ireland Limited and Maximilian Schrems, the European Court of Justice considered whether the United States met this standard. In two thousand, the US and the EU negotiated an agreement called the Safe Harbor Principles to authorize private companies to transfer personal customer data from Europe to the states.

The European Commission issued a decision called an adequacy decision certifying that Safe Harbor guaranteed an adequate level of data protection for European citizens.

However, safe harbor allowed the American government unlimited access to personal data for national security and other purposes.

In two thousand thirteen, former government contractor Edward Snowden leaked information revealing that American security agencies engaged in extensive warrantless data collection and had direct access to the data held by major companies like Google and Facebook.

Austrian citizen, Maximilian Schrems, had a Facebook account. European Facebook users had to contract with Facebook Ireland, a Facebook subsidiary.

Facebook Ireland sent users' personal data to Facebook in the US. Following the Snowden league, Shremes filed a complaint with Ireland's data protection commissioner, that country's data supervisory authority. Schrems asked the authority to prohibit Facebook Ireland from transferring his data to the US because US law didn't adequately protect personal data.

The authority rejected Schrems' complaint because of safe harbor.

Schrems appealed to Ireland's high court, which requested an opinion on the safe harbor decision's validity from the European Court of Justice.

The European Court invalidated the decision and referred the case back to the authority.

Thereafter, the US and EU negotiated a new agreement called Privacy Shield. The European Commission issued an adequacy decision approving Privacy Shield. Privacy Shield was similar to Safe Harbor, but created an ombudsperson to investigate data privacy complaints from European citizens.

Again, however, Privacy Shield allowed the federal government unlimited access to personal data for national security reasons.

Schrems refiled his complaint. The authority referred the case to Ireland's high court, which again referred the case to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.

Want more details on this case? Get the rule of law, issues, holding and reasonings, and more case facts here: quimbee.com/cases/schrems-v-data-protection-commissioner-joined-by-digital-rights-ireland-schrems-i

The Quimbee App features over 42,700 case briefs keyed to 988 casebooks. Try it free for 7 days! ► quimbee.com/case-briefs-overview

Have Questions about this Case? Submit your questions and get answers from a real attorney here: quimbee.com/cases/schrems-v-data-protection-commissioner-joined-by-digital-rights-ireland-schrems-i

Did we just become best friends? Stay connected to Quimbee here:

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel ► youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=QuimbeeDotCom

Quimbee Case Brief App ► quimbee.com/case-briefs-overview

Facebook ► facebook.com/quimbeedotcom

Twitter ► twitter.com/quimbeedotcom

#casebriefs #lawcases #casesummaries
Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner (Joined by Digital Rights Ireland) [Schrems I] | Law CaseGerruth Realty Co. v. Pire Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedMcDonald v. Mobil Coal Producing Inc. Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedFederal Trade Commission v. Facebook Inc. Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedSuburban Realty Co. v. United States Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedIrving Trust Co. v. Maryland Casualty Co. Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedMcKart v. United States Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedFree Speech Coalition Inc  v  Paxton Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedDJ Manufacturing Corp. v. United States Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedLAHR Construction Corp. v. J. Kozel & Sons Inc. Case Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedSan Francisco Distribution Center v. Stonemason Partners LPCase Brief Summary | Law Case ExplainedNewberry v. Barth, Inc. Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained
Quimbee |

Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner (Joined by Digital Rights Ireland) [Schrems I] | Law Case

SHARE TO X SHARE TO REDDIT SHARE TO FACEBOOK WALLPAPER