Facebook faces activist, EU judges in ‘Schrems II’ privacy case

Max Schrems, left, and his lawyer Herwig Hofmann, right, walk in the hallway after a ruling at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. Europe's highest court has ruled in favor of an Austrian law student who claims a trans-Atlantic data protection agreement doesn't adequately protect consumers. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Five years ago, when activist Max Schrems took Facebook Inc to the European Union’s top court no one knew what to call it. 

The case, which led to judges scrapping a key trans-Atlantic data-transfer agreement, was referred to as the Safe-Harbor dispute or other unmemorable technical terms.