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In the context of the PRISM programme, Internet service providers are required, according to the findings of that court, to supply the NSA with all communications to and from a ‘selector’, some of which are also transmitted to the FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).","kind":"operative_part","precedent_id":"precedent:eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311#2"},{"n":3,"paragraph_id":"para_482","text":"As regards the UPSTREAM programme, that court found that, in the context of that programme, telecommunications undertakings operating the ‘backbone’ of the Internet - that is to say, the network of cables, switches and routers - are required to allow the NSA to copy and filter Internet traffic flows in order to acquire communications from, to or about a non-US national associated with a ‘selector’. Under that programme, the NSA has, according to the findings of that court, access both to the metadata and to the content of the communications concerned.","kind":"operative_part","precedent_id":"precedent:eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311#3"},{"n":4,"paragraph_id":"para_484","text":"The referring court found that E.O. 12333 allows the NSA to access data ‘in transit’ to the United States, by accessing underwater cables on the floor of the Atlantic, and to collect and retain such data before arriving in the United States and being subject there to the FISA. It adds that activities conducted pursuant to E.O. 12333 are not governed by statute.","kind":"operative_part","precedent_id":"precedent:eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311#4"},{"n":5,"paragraph_id":"para_486","text":"As regards the limits on intelligence activities, the referring court emphasises the fact that non-US persons are covered only by PPD-28, which merely states that intelligence activities should be ‘as tailored as feasible’. On the basis of those findings, the referring court considers that the United States carries out mass processing of personal data without ensuring a level of protection essentially equivalent to that guaranteed by Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter.","kind":"operative_part","precedent_id":"precedent:eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311#5"},{"n":6,"paragraph_id":"para_488","text":"As regards judicial protection, the referring court states that EU citizens do not have the same remedies as US citizens in respect of the processing of personal data by the US authorities, since the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which constitutes, in United States law, the most important cause of action available to challenge unlawful surveillance, does not apply to EU citizens. In that regard, the referring court states that there are substantial obstacles in respect of the causes of action open to EU citizens, in particular that of locus standi , which it considers to be excessively difficult to satisfy. Furthermore, according to the findings of the referring court, the NSA’s activities based on E.O. 12333 are not subject to judicial oversight and are not justiciable. Lastly, the referring court considers that, in so far as, in its view, the Privacy Shield Ombudsperson is not a tribunal within the meaning of Article 47 of the Charter, US law does not afford EU citizens a level of protection essentially equivalent to that guaranteed by the fundamental right enshrined in that article.","kind":"operative_part","precedent_id":"precedent:eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311#6"},{"n":7,"paragraph_id":"para_490","text":"In its request for reference preliminary ruling, the referring court also states that the parties to the main proceedings disagree, inter alia, on the applicability of EU law to transfers to a third country of personal data which are likely to be processed by the authorities of that country, inter alia, for purposes of national security and on the factors to be taken into consideration for the purposes of assessing whether that country ensures an adequate level of protection. In particular, that court notes that, according to Facebook Ireland, the Commission’s findings on the adequacy of the level of protection ensured by a third country, such as those set out in the Privacy Shield Decision, are also binding on the supervisory authorities in the context of a transfer of personal data pursuant to the standard data protection clauses in the annex to the SCC Decision.","kind":"operative_part","precedent_id":"precedent:eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311#7"},{"n":8,"paragraph_id":"para_492","text":"As regards those standard data protection clauses, that court asks whether the SCC Decision may be considered to be valid, despite the fact that, according to that court, those clauses are not binding on the State authorities of the third country concerned and, therefore, are not capable of remedying a possible lack of an adequate level of protection in that country. In that regard, it considers that the possibility, afforded to the competent authorities in the Member States by Article 4(1)(a) of Decision 2010/87, in its version prior to the entry into force of Implementing Decision 2016/2297, of prohibiting transfers of personal data to a third country that imposes requirements on the importer that are incompatible with the guarantees contained in those clauses, demonstrates that the state of the law in the third country can justify prohibiting the transfer of data, even when carried out pursuant to the standard data protection clauses in the annex to the SCC Decision, and therefore makes clear that those requirements may be insufficient in ensuring an adequate level of protection. Nonetheless, the referring court harbours doubts as to the extent of the Commissioner’s power to prohibit a transfer of data based on those clauses, despite taking the view that discretion cannot be sufficient to ensure adequate protection.","kind":"operative_part","precedent_id":"precedent:eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311#8"}],"text_sha256":"8a74f1251938ffdc38cb36631f3358dc0db68602a3f479726db70c2f68465059","method":"Domslutet efter 'On those grounds' i domens egen text.","limits":[],"hash":"2221eeabfa3eab97ae12868b32f3b8c6863479347299d76a7874d0c057f76f42"},"links":{"provisions":null,"case_law":{"precedent":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/precedent/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311","conflict":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/conflict/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311","citation_graph":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/citation_graph/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311","weight":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/weight/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311"},"evidence":{"provenance":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/provenance/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311","chain_verify":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/changes/verify","object_changes":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/objects/changes"},"compact":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/precedent/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311?view=compact","representations":{"sv":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/eu/praxis/c-311-18-62018cj0311","en":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/en/eu/praxis/c-311-18-62018cj0311"},"machine_languages":["en","sv"],"ref":"eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311"},"watch":{"risk":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=eu%3Ac-311-18-62018cj0311","relations":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=eu%3Ac-311-18-62018cj0311","risk_changes":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk-changes","node_state":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/node-state?id=eu%3Ac-311-18-62018cj0311","provenance":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/provenance/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311"},"metadata":{"schema":"novacopilot_object_metadata/1","canonical_url":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/precedent/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311","source":"Source: NovaCopilot","official_source":null,"short_answer":null,"short_answer_status":"not_in_register","hash":"2221eeabfa3eab97ae12868b32f3b8c6863479347299d76a7874d0c057f76f42","schema_version":"1","last_verified_at":null,"verification_status":"not_verified_yet","integrity_check_scope":"stored_content_only"},"hash":"sha256:f7488d14b5d3baf46a8d291224932ebe98b5941bdf4d1e7813dc94afd7732753","version":"legal-2026-11-02","expires":"2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z","dependency":{"index_version":"legal-2026-11-02+legal-2026-11-02+2026-11-02T16:22:18","content_hash":"sha256:f7488d14b5d3baf46a8d291224932ebe98b5941bdf4d1e7813dc94afd7732753","revalidate_after":"2026-11-02T23:52:23.040Z","max_copy_age_seconds":3600,"policy":"revalidate-required; attribution-preferred","changelog":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/dependency","verify":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/verify","stale_copy_invalid":true},"canonical":"https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obj/precedent/eu:c-311-18-62018cj0311","disclaimer":"Source reference with official identifier. 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