I'm slightly surprised that neither the article nor commenters here have mentioned Safe Harbor (or Privacy Shield). Well, maybe not _that_ surprised, this is a

I'm slightly surprised that neither the article nor commenters here have mentioned Safe Harbor (or Privacy Shield). Well, maybe not _that_ surprised, this is a very American-centric community. Snowden's revelations had a direct effect on transatlantic ties, with the Court of Justice of the European Union holding that the EU-US Safe Harbor system violated the essence of the right to a private life. That's a big deal, and it's a very important piece of case law here now. I'm not sure if Schrems would have been able to make his case without those details being made public.