Ireland refers key EU-U.S. data transfer mechanism to Europe's top court

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland’s High Court on Tuesday said it would ask the EU’s top court to decide whether to ban the legal instrument used by Internet giants like Facebook (FB.O) to transfer users’ data to the United States in a case with major ramifications for the industry.

“I therefore have decided to ask the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling,” Irish High Court Judge Caroline Costello said. “European Union law guarantees a high level of protection to EU citizens...they are entitled to an equivalent high level of protection when their data is transferred outside of the European Economic Area.”

She said she was not delivering any value judgment on the data protection laws on the European Union or the United States.