Safe Harbour invalidation puts EU data in quarantine

The decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on 6 October to invalidate the US-EU Safe Harbour Framework is the Smoot-Hawley tariff bill of the digital age.

Smoot-Hawley was the infamous American law in 1930 that hiked US tariffs and precipitated an international tariff war that contributed to the Great Depression.

This is not to suggest that the ECJ itself was motivated by protectionism. The court has a history of strict ...