The EC found that the safeguards in the new agreement should uphold the standards of EU data protection law and meet the requirements of the EU Court of Justice's ruling in October 2015, which struck down the previous safe harbour designation for the US. However, the new agreement must still be approved by a committee of representatives of the 28 EU states, and the EU's national privacy regulators must also give their opinion on the Privacy Shield before it can take effect.
The EC noted that the US also gave written assurance that it would guard against indiscriminate surveillance of personal data of EU residents by US security agencies. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that any access by US public authorities for national security purposes will be subject to clear limitations, safeguards and oversight mechanisms, preventing generalised access to personal data. US Secretary of State John Kerry committed to establishing a redress possibility in the area of national intelligence for Europeans through an ombudsperson mechanism within the Department of State, who will be independent from national security services. The Ombudsperson will follow-up complaints and enquiries by individuals and inform them whether the relevant laws have been complied with. These written commitments will be published in the US federal register.
