On September 23, 2015, Advocate
General Yves Bot delivered an opinion
on the issue of the transfer of personal data from Facebook Ireland
to Facebook USA, in light of the generalized access the National
Security Agency (NSA) and other United States security agencies
have to the data stored at Facebook USA.
The Advocate General states that the
finding that a third country does or does not ensure an adequate
level of protection is a shared competence between the EU
Commission and EU Member States. As a consequence, the Advocate
General takes the view that the existence of a decision adopted by
the EU Commission cannot eliminate or even reduce the national
supervisory authorities' powers to form their own opinions on
the general level of protection ensured by a third country. Indeed,
he points out that the requirement that compliance with EU rules
regarding protection of individuals' personal data is subject
to control by an independent authority, is also expressly
