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ARTICLE · 31 MARCH 2021

Further Tension Between National Security And Protecting Privacy: Latest EU Judgments

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The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled on whether United Kingdom, French, and Belgian national security laws were compatible with European Union privacy, data protection...

European UnionPrivacy
Natasha Kohne
Natasha Kohne
Michelle Reed
Michelle Reed
Jenny Arlington
Jenny Arlington
Rachel Kurzweil
Rachel Kurzweil
Jay Jamooji
Jay Jamooji
Sahar Abas
Sahar Abas
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The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled on whether United Kingdom, French, and Belgian national security laws were compatible with European Union privacy, data protection, and fundamental rights principles. This article explains the decisions and their implications.

United Kingdom, French, and Belgian national security laws (and such laws of other European Union ("EU") Member States) fell under the scrutiny of the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU"), which on October 6, 2020, ruled on whether such laws were compatible with EU privacy, data protection, and fundamental rights principles. The take-away point is that the CJEU confirmed that certain national security laws were incompatible with Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 12, 2002, concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (the "ePrivacy Directive"),1 which together with the

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