Facebook faces legal challenge over data processing

Facebook is facing a legal challenge in the European Court of Justice over the way it handles the transfer of users' data outside the European Union.

The case is being brought by Austrian lawyer Max Schrems, who previously took the social media giant to court four years ago in a case that resulted in the overturning of a widely used trans-Atlantic data-transfer system, because of concerns intelligence services in the United States might get unrestricted access to EU data, a dispute known as the Safe Harbor dispute.

Schrems' latest challenge questions how commercial data is transferred. It is currently covered by what are known as standard contractual clauses, widely regarded as being the most efficient transfer system since the 2015 ruling. His case also asks questions of the EU-US Privacy Shield, the trans-Atlantic data transfer pact that was brought into replace Safe Harbor in 2016.