European and USA officials announced yesterday the creation of a new data transfer agreement called Privacy Shield that will replace the previous deal, Safe Harbour, after EU’s highest court declared it illegal a year ago in October.
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Unless an agreement was reached, the collapse of the free flow of data could have impacted internet users, as the cost of data storage on both sides of the Atlantic would inevitably go up.
Four months after the Safe Harbour agreement was invalidated, U.S. and EU legislators have agreed a new arrangement that will place “stronger obligations” on USA firms handling European citizens’ data.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova said that the said pact will be a landmark for the access of public authorities for national security purposes but will be subject to clear limitations, safeguards, and oversight mechanisms. Dubbed the “EU-U.S. Privacy Shield”, the negotiations revolved around privacy concerns of European authorities who anxious that American surveillance of data transmitted across the Atlantic might violate the rights of European citizens.
“Mr Schrems referred in this regard to the revelations made by Edward Snowden concerning the activities of the United States intelligence services, in particular those of the National Security Agency”, the European court wrote in its decision. Europeans will have the possibility to raise any enquiry or complaint in this context with a dedicated new Ombudsperson.
An annual review by the Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce will ensure the system is working well and U.S. commitments on spying are being protected, they said.
A highly awaited data transfer agreement between the United States and Europe fell through after negotiators stumbled over a new oversight model and options for European citizens to seek redress for privacy violations. European officials added that the US has provided “written assurances” that the authorities won’t engage in “indiscriminate mass surveillance” on European’s data.
Safe Harbour had for 15 years allowed more than 4,000 companies to avoid cumbersome European Union data transfer rules by stating that they complied with European Union data protection law.
The political agreement was approved today by the College of Commissioners with Vice-President Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Věra Jourová of the European Commission instructed to prepare the new framework.
“The [US] Department of Commerce will monitor that companies publish their commitments, which makes them enforceable under US law by the US Federal Trade Commission”.
The agreement has not yet been ratified but contains several notable provisions created to better protect data on European Union citizens once it is exported to the US.
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The proposed Privacy Shield framework was welcomed by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), which had urged law makers to get a decision agreed as soon as possible.
