EU regulators set 3-mth deadline for new safe harbour deal

News General Europe 19 OKT 2015
EU regulators set 3-mth deadline for new safe harbour deal
The EU's data protection regulators have given the EU and US three months to negotiate a new 'safe harbour' agreement on the transfer of personal data to the US, or the regulators may start pursuing enforcement action against companies. The existing designation for the US as a 'safe' destination for data on EU residents was overturned in a ruling by the EU Court of Justice. It found the US could not be considered safe given the evidence of wide-ranging data collection by security services in the US and the lack of legal recourse for EU citizens in the US if their data is misused. 

The Article 29 Working Party, which unites the EU's data protection regulators, said in a statement that it was "absolutely essential" for EU members to take a common position on implementation of the court ruling. They called for the EU to open talks "urgently" with the US in order to find ways for data to be transferred between the countries while still respecting fundamental rights of the data subjects. 

Until a new agreement can be reached, companies may continue to use standard contractual clauses and binding corporate rules to provide protection for subjects of data collection and transfer. The Article 29 group will start a review of these and other tools to assess the impact of the ECJ ruling. If no appropriate solution is found with the US by the end of January 2016 and depending on the results of the regulatory review, the EU data protection authorities said they are "committed to take all necessary and appropriate actions, which may include coordinated enforcement actions".

The group said that any data transfers still taking place under the Safe Harbour rules are unlawful. The privacy regulators will start information campaigns in order to alert businesses to the consequences of the court ruling. 

Categories:

General

Regions:

Europe

Tags:

Regulations, Legislation - Lawsuits

Related Articles

EUROPE 3 FEB 2016

EU regulators to hold off enforcing data transfers ruling

EU data protection regulators said they will hold off enforcing the court ruling ending the US's 'safe harbour' status, while they evaluate the new agreement between the EU and US on trans-Atlantic data transfers. Businesses transferring personal data from the EU to the US can continue to resort to standard contractual clauses and binding corporate rules in order to ensure compliance with EU data protection rules. The Article 29 group called on the European Commission to ensure it has all the necessary docu

EUROPE 2 FEB 2016

EU, US agree new 'privacy shield' for data transfers

The European Union and the US have agreed on a new framework for protecting the privacy of personal data passed by companies between the two territories, the European Commission announced. To be known as the EU-US Privacy Shield, the agreement comes on the deadline of 02 February set by EU privacy regulators to reach an agreement. The new arrangement will provide stronger obligations on companies in the US to protect the personal data of Europeans and stronger monitoring and enforcement by the US Department

EUROPE 2 FEB 2016

EU, US near deadline for new safe harbour agreement

EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova has outlined to a European Parliament committee the progress in talks with the US on reaching a new agreement allowing the transfer of personal data of EU citizens by businesses to the US. The EU and US had hoped to reach an agreement by 02 February, when the EU data protection authorities said they would start looking at enforcing the court ruling last year that struck down the previous 'safe harbour' designation for the US as a destination for personal data. Talking to

EUROPE 18 JAN 2016

US, EU business groups call for urgent deal on safe harbour

Four major business associations have warned the US and EU that they must reach a new deal allowing the exchange of personal data by businesses across the two territories. "This issue must be resolved immediately or the consequences could be enormous for the thousands of businesses and millions of users impacted," the letter from the US Chamber of Commerce, BusinessEurope, DigitalEurope and the Information Technology Industry Council said. It was sent to US President Barack Obama, European Commission Presid

EUROPE 15 JAN 2016

EU-US meeting on data transfers planned for 02 Feb

European Union data protection regulators will meet in Brussels on 02 February in a bid to find common ground on a new data transfer deal between the EU and the US, reports Reuters, citing a spokeswoman for the French data protection authority, which will chair the meeting. The previous data-transfer agreement was struck down in a European Court of Justice ruling in October, leading the European Commission to scrap its previous designation of the US as a 'safe harbour' for data on EU residents.

EUROPE 10 DEC 2015

New EU-US 'safe harbour' deal to include suspension clause

The European Union's justice commissioner Vera Jourova has confirmed that the new data transfer deal between the European Union and the US will give the EU the right to suspend transfers in the absence of sufficient privacy guarantees. "In the new safe harbour there will be a suspension clause, saying that under concrete conditions we are going to suspend (it)," said Jourova at a Brussels conference, according to Reuters. The previous data-transfer agreement was struck down in a European Court of Justice ru

EUROPE 13 NOV 2015

EU wants US firms to report data requests

The European Union's justice commissioner Vera Jourova has called on US companies to report requests by US intelligence services for data on European online users under a new 'safe harbour' data-transfer agreement. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the commissioner said the suggested review mechanism would add to official information on the data requests and serve as a way of cross-checking the scale of access to EU citizens' data by the US National Security Agency. "What we wanted was to have a

EUROPE 6 NOV 2015

EC issues guidelines on personal data transfers to the US

The European Commission has reiterated a deadline of three months to come to a new 'safe harbour' agreement with the US on the transfer of personal data between the territories. Following the EU court ruling in October scrapping the EC's previous designation of the US as a 'safe harbour' for data on EU residents, the European Commission has issued guidelines for businesses operating in the EU and sending protected data to the US. They may still legally do so under certain conditions, such as agreeing a cont

EUROPE 27 OKT 2015

EU, US near deal on new 'safe harbour' terms

The European Union has reached an agreement in principle with the US on strengthening the 'safe harbour' agreement on the transfer of personal data to the US. The announcement was made by Vera Jourova, the European Commssioner for Justice, who was addressing the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament on the consequences of the recent ruling by the EU Court of Justice striking down the previous designation of the US as a safe harbour. Jourová said the European Commi

UNITED STATES 21 OKT 2015

US House passes bill giving EU citizens judicial redress

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill making it possible for non-EU citizens to seeks judicial redress in the US. The inability of non-US citizens to seek legal recourse in US courts for alleged violations of their rights was one of the main reasons for the EU Court of Justice to strike down earlier this month the 'safe harbour' agreement on the transfer of personal data to the US by companies operating in the EU. The Consumer Electronics Association welcomed the decision by Congress, saying the

IRELAND 20 OKT 2015

Facebook seeks to join High Court proceedings in Schrems case

Facebook has requested the chance to give its opinion in a legal challenge by Austrian student Max Schrems against Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner the Irish privacy regulator for refusing to investigate Facebook's transfer of data to the US, Reuters reports. A Facebook spokesperson said, "We believe it is critical that we join the proceedings so that we can provide accurate information about our procedures and processes, as well as to correct inaccuracies that already exist." At the proceedings, the

EUROPE 19 OKT 2015

EC krijgt drie maanden voor nieuwe Safe Harbour-overeenkomst

De privacy-toezichthouders van de 28 EU-lidstaten hebben de Europese Commissie en de VS drie maanden de tijd gegeven om te komen met een nieuwe Safe Harbour-overeenkomst inzake de overdracht van gegevens van EU-burgers naar de VS. Als er over drie maanden nog geen nieuwe overeenkomst is, dan gaan de toezichthouders mogelijk acties ondernemen tegen Amerikaanse ondernemingen die nog gegevens van EU-burgers overhevelen naar servers in de VS. Dat stellen de in de Artikel 29 Werkgroep verenigde privacy-toezichth

EUROPE 6 OKT 2015

EU-US 'safe harbour' data transfers declared invalid

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the 'safe harbour' agreement on data transfers between the EU and US is invalid, casting doubt on the extent to which US tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Apple can continue to collect data from their users in the EU. The ECJ's ruling upholds the opinion of its advocate-general Yves Bot, who last month said the 'safe harbour' deal should be invalidated "because the surveillance carried out by the US is mass, indiscriminate surveillance," leaving the

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.