The controversial “Safe Harbor” laws that allowed technology companies to move user data between the Europe Union and the United States were ruled invalid by the European Court of Justice this morning. These laws made it so that companies like Facebook and Google could transfer user data from one data center to another if they could guarantee that the data would receive an “adequate level” of protection. By declaring those laws invalid, the European Union has dealt a major blow to American technology companies, as it’s likely they’ll now be forced to keep European user data within the European Union itself, which will require them to expand their European operations.
