Goodbye Safe Harbour, hello Privacy Shield

Safe Harbor, declared invalid last October by ECJ, will be soon replaced by the EU-US Privacy Shield.

“For the first time ever, the United States has given the EU binding assurances that the access of public authorities for national security purposes will be subject to clear limitations, safeguards and oversight mechanisms” states Commissioner Věra Jourová into press release.

.@EU_Commission and the @CommerceGov agree on new framework for transatlantic data flows: EU-US #PrivacyShield

— Věra Jourová (@VeraJourova) February 2, 2016

Not so satisfied Joe McNamee, Executive Director of European Digital Rights (EDRI), he states: “The emperor is trying on a new set of clothes. Today’s announcement means that European citizens and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic face an extended period of uncertainty while waiting for this new stop-gap solution to fail.”

European Commission defence of European rights sinks in an unsafe harbour. #safeharbor https://t.co/qLfaKL85qN pic.twitter.com/VI95U5AFaM — EDRi (@edri) February 2, 2016

The three milestones of the new agreement:

• Strong obligations on companies handling Europeans’ personal data and robust enforcement
• Clear safeguards and transparency obligations on U.S. government access
• Effective protection of EU citizens’ rights with several redress possibilities

The College has today mandated Vice-President Ansip and Commissioner Jourová to prepare a draft “adequacy decision” in the coming weeks, which could then be adopted by the College after obtaining the advice of the Article 29 Working Party and after consulting a committee composed of representatives of the Member States. In the meantime, the U.S. side will make the necessary preparations to put in place the new framework, monitoring mechanisms and new Ombudsman.

EU press release