Landmark ECJ data protection ruling could impact Facebook and Google

European Court of Justice decision has 'changed face of data protection' for internet companies claim experts by changing rules of one-stop-shop

The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of the Hungarian data protection authority in its case against Slovakian property site Weltimmo. It's a landmark ruling that could have big implications for companies such as Facebook and Google, operating across multiple EU countries.

The ECJ ruled Thursday that if a company operates a service in the native language of a country, and has representatives in that country, then it can be held accountable by the country's national data protection agency despite not being headquartered in the country.