担忧美国监听，欧洲法院裁定欧美数据传输协定无效

当地时间16日，欧洲法院推翻了欧盟与美国在2016年达成的数据传输协定——《欧美隐私盾牌》（Privacy Shield），裁定该协定无效。

欧洲法院认为，美国的数据保护未能达到欧盟标准。此后，欧盟和美国将不得不就此开始谈判和签订新的协定，以保证欧盟用户的数据在传输到美国后，能获得与欧盟同等标准的隐私保护。

路透社刊文指出，这一裁决实际上结束了美国公司在获取欧盟用户个人数据上的特权。

The European Union's top court ruled Thursday that an agreement that allows thousands of companies — from tech giants to small financial firms — to transfer data to the United States is invalid because the American government can snoop on people's data.

The Court of Justice of the EU ruling to invalidate Privacy Shield will likely complicate business for around 5,000 companies and it could require regulators to vet any new data transfers to make sure Europeans' personal information remains protected according to the EU's stringent standards. 

It will no longer simply be assumed that tech companies like Facebook will adequately protect the privacy of its European users' data when it sends it to the U.S. Rather, the EU and U.S. will likely have to find a new agreement that guarantees that Europeans' data is afforded the same privacy protection in the U.S. as it is in the EU.

据报道，目前有超过5000家公司根据这个协定传输数据，其中有65%是中小企业或初创企业，当然也不乏科技和工业巨头。

《华尔街日报》评论称，这项裁决可能会迫使包括脸书和苹果公司等科技巨头在内的一些公司做出决定：是以高昂的代价将数据中心转移到欧洲，还是切断与该地区的业务。

不过，对于来自欧洲的个人隐私倡导者而言，这一裁决无疑意味着一次胜利。他们认为，鉴于美国政府的监听行为，美国并不适合存储欧盟用户数据。

Privacy activists hailed the court ruling as a major victory, while business groups worried about the potential to disrupt commerce, depending on how the ruling is implemented. Companies like Facebook routinely move such data among their servers around the world and the practice underpins billions of dollars in business.

如马克斯·施雷姆斯（Max Schrems）——一名来自奥地利的隐私维权人士就在判决作出后表示，“很显然，如果美国公司期望在欧盟市场上继续发挥重要作用，那么美国将不得不认真修改其关于情报监控的相关法律。”

事实上，这一裁决的起因可以追溯到施雷姆斯与脸书公司之间的一场司法诉讼。

"It is clear that the U.S. will have to seriously change their surveillance laws, if U.S. companies want to continue to play a major role on the EU market," said Max Schrems, an Austrian activist whose complaints about the handling of his Facebook data triggered the ruling after years of legal procedures.

"Permanent Record," a 2019 autobiography by Edward Snowden is displayed on a shelf at Books Inc. in San Francisco, September 17, 2019. /VCG

2016年，欧盟正式通过《欧美隐私盾牌》协定，规定用于商业目的的个人数据从欧洲传输到美国后，将享受与在欧盟境内同样的数据保护标准。

但由于2013年美国前防务承包商雇员爱德华·斯诺登（Edward Snowden）披露美国情报机构开展大规模监听活动等原因，学法律出身的施雷姆斯以社交网站脸书的欧盟用户身份提起诉讼，希望阻止有关数据从欧盟转移至美国。

施雷姆斯举例说，斯诺登的爆料显示，脸书在美国有义务向包括美国国家安全局（NSA）、美国联邦调查局（FBI）在内的政府机构提供用户数据，而用户对此无法采取任何行动。

如今，欧洲法院就此案作出判决，裁定欧美达成的《欧美隐私盾牌》协定无效。欧洲法院表示，美国的国内法认为有关美国国家安全利益和执法等方面的要求具有优先性，因此，可能以“国家安全利益”为由访问欧盟用户数据，这不满足该数据在美国受到“与欧盟基本等同”保护的标准。

He first filed a complaint in 2013, after former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the American government was snooping on people's online data and communications. The revelations included details on how Facebook gave U.S. security agencies access to the personal data of Europeans. 

Though the legal case was triggered by concerns over Facebook in particular, it could have far-reaching implications not only for tech companies but also businesses in sectors like finance and the auto industry. 

Things like emails or hotel reservations between the U.S. and Europe would not be affected because there is no way to conduct that business without data crossing the border. But in other cases, such as with Facebook, for example, messages between Europeans would have to stay in Europe, which can be complicated and require their platform to be split up, Schrems said. 

Companies use legal mechanisms called standard contractual clauses that force businesses to abide by EU privacy standards when transferring messages, photos and other information. The clauses — which are stock terms and conditions — are used to ensure the EU rules are maintained when data leaves the bloc. 

The Court of Justice of the EU ruled Thursday that those clauses are still valid in principle. However, it declared invalid the Privacy Shield agreement between the U.S. and EU on data transfers over concerns that the U.S. can demand access to consumer data for national security reasons. 

判决作出后，美国商务部长威尔伯·罗斯（Wilbur Ross）表示，美国对这一裁决“深感失望”。

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the U.S. was "deeply disappointed" by the ruling and we "hope to be able to limit the negative consequences to the $7.1 trillion trans-Atlantic economic relationship." 

当今世界上许多最大的公司都是由数据驱动的，如脸书、谷歌、阿里巴巴和亚马逊等等。

不过，很多专家表示，大数据实为一把“双刃剑”。

近年来，通过对大数据的操纵和利用而直接影响重大政治活动的事件频频发生。如2016年，“剑桥分析”公司被指控通过窃取5000万脸书用户资料帮助特朗普赢得美国总统大选一事，便是颇具代表性的事件之一。

Data drives much of the world's largest companies, like Facebook, Google, Alibaba and Amazon, and is also prized for national security to prevent extremist attacks, for example. Mining large sets of people's data has also become crucial to winning elections, such as the use of Facebook data for Donald Trump's presidential victory in 2016. 

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