Cianan Brennan: Euro court data decision will have wide-reaching consequences

Facebook said it "welcomes" the Court's decision, but critics say the decision undermines the site's business model. File Picture.

Thursday’s judgement by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will have immediate, far-reaching consequences. It will also have many which can not yet be firmly predicted.

The 63-page judgement of the Court, feeding off a referral from the Irish High Court of a case taken by the Data Protection Commission, is intensely complex. The various parties have good reason to state they are 'studying the decision closely’.