The DPC's office told The Register that "it is expected that the case will run for three weeks, during which time we do not anticipate making daily comment on the matter."
Will an ongoing commentary be available from anyone else?
The future of the relationship between the European Union and President Trump's United States is being decided in a Dublin court hearing which is expected to continue for the next three weeks. While the president has backed away from previous comments regarding NATO and torture, his administration has offered no suggestion of …
Trump's top boys are set to argue that "significantly enhanced" protections were introduced under Obama to ensure that EU citizens' data is protected in accordance with EU laws.
It may be cold comfort to the Irish that "Trump's top boys" believe that Obama's legacy protects them, when Mr. Trump has shown he is willing to use his custom mini-pen to knock over the chessboard whenever he gets the urge.
I don't know what the DPC will be arguing but given that the primary weakness in the system still remain it's difficult to see how the case can be defended. There seems to have been an added assurance from the US DoC which doesn't have any real ability to restrain other arms of the US Govt.
There's also a so-called provision for redress which fails on several counts. It's not in the injured party's jurisdiction and will, therefore, be very difficult to enforce; it would rely on the IP to detect than an illegal disclosure had occurred, a very unlikely event given that the data handler would be under no obligation to disclose and possibly legally obliged not to; and there are no criminal penalties for disclosure.
In order to be anything but a Privacy Figleaf the following should be required:
1. The EU-based organisation shipping the data to the US should remain responsible to the data subject in the data subject's jurisdiction in both civil and criminal law.
2. The US data handler should be legally obliged to notify their EU counterpart of any breaches including disclosures to official bodies and this requirement should override any gagging orders.
3. In the event of a breach the EU-based organisation should be obliged to act as if it were a breach on their part.
If this makes transatlantic trade in data commercially infeasible, tough. There's a perfectly workable solution: ensure proper arm's length arrangements to ensure data sovereignty in the EU.
Call me cynical but I suspect the courts aren't really interested in applying the Law in this case, they are more interested in what they would call "Justice". This, then, will be political and the legal arguments only necessary in as much as they give the court something to justify whatever decision the judges want.
If the US govt lose it won't affect us here in the U K of A - we'll have a nice private trade agreement that outsources all our data to the CIA and NSA. Problem solved. Of course that would make it impossible for us to trade with the EU, but who wants that anyway?
</pissed off cynical remainer mode>
"Of course that would make it impossible for us to trade with the EU, but who wants that anyway?"
Don't you see, that's their plan: If the US / UK are made to be crappy enough, no one would want to go there and would thus no more immigrants / refugees. You know, like how a little kid would drop their candy into the mud so they wouldn't have to share it.
* Our politicians have always been in love with super-confident America and pollyannic US corporations in general. It all stretches back to the good old days of Original-Apple, Original-IBM, Original-Intel, and Original Xerox and so on...
* Plus its paddy-land here and we'll happily sell our souls for jobs for the lads. Why? We're small and have always been bullied by Big Brexit, so have lower self-confidence than other countries. This is why many say we drink too much.
* Trump or not, Ireland won't rock the boat. If anyone in the rest of Europe is hoping this case will set a positive precedent for privacy or data rights, be prepared to be disappointed! The Irish DPC is run just like a local Centra/Spar, which is telling....