European Union for Google and Facebook: Companies based outside the European Union must comply with the rules protectionof personal data imposed by the European Union, justice ministers agreed on Friday, although governments remain divided on how to enforce them on companies operating within the Union.
The deal, which forces internet giants such as Google and Facebook to comply with EU law, is a first step in a wider reform to strengthen privacy laws. The British telecommunications giant Vodafone revealed today in a news report that some governments had direct access to its network in order to intercept its customers' communications.
This revelation of the extent of wiretapping in European countries shows that the practice is not limited to the US. The second largest mobile phone company in the world, Vodafone, is based in Britain. "All companies operating on European soil must comply with the laws," underlined the Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Vivian Reading during the duration press conference after the meeting with the European Union's justice ministers in Luxembourg, which reached a decision supported by the Court of Justice of the EU. "Now is the time for European ministers to give a positive response to Edward Snowden's wake-up call," Redding said.
Commenting on the revelations about Vodafone said: "All these facts show how important it is to have a data protection mechanism that will be fully entrenched. In the countries of the European Union, a judge must allow access to citizens' personal data and these rules apply across the EU, "said Reading, adding:" We have no jurisdiction in third country legislation. "
