EU top court rejects EU-U.S. data transfer tool, backs another tool

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Europe's top court on Thursday rejected a key EU tool used to transfer Europeans' personal data across the Atlantic for commercial use but upheld the validity of another tool used by hundreds of thousands of companies to transfer data worldwide.

"The Court of Justice invalidates Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Data Protection Shield," the court said.

"However, it considers that Commission Decision 2010/87 on standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third countries is valid."

The rulings came in a clash between Facebook and Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and Marine Strauss)