On July 9, 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ)—the highest court of the European Union—will hear oral arguments in the Schrems 2.0 case relating to the validity of two key data transfer mechanisms: the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and the EU-US Privacy Shield. Both of these mechanisms are widely used by companies in the European Economic Area (EEA), which comprises the 28 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, to allow the transfer of personal data to the United States and other countries outside the EEA.
Continue Reading And Then There Were None: Or How Schrems 2.0 May Invalidate the Standard Contractual Clauses and the Privacy Shield
Regulating Big Tech: Top of Mind Interview with Christopher Kuner
In a new interview appearing in “Regulating Big Tech,” published by Goldman Sachs Global Macro Research, Dr. Christopher Kuner, Senior Privacy Counsel at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, discusses the European Union’s upcoming General
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European Court of Justice to Rule on Validity of Standard Contractual Clauses
On October 3, 2017, the High Court of Ireland issued its decision in Data Protection Commissioner vs Facebook and Schrems concerning the validity of the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)—a mechanism used by a very
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Status Update on the EU Data Protection Regulation
On June 15, 2015, the Ministers of Justice of all 28 European Union member states, sitting as the Council of the EU (Council), reached a crucial agreement for the future EU data protection legal framework. Much work still needs to be completed, but this is a major step forward in the adoption of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation).
The Regulation introduces important changes to EU data protection law that will have a significant impact on companies doing business in the EU. While the timing of final approval is still unknown, the fact that the Council has reached a general approach significantly increases the chances that the final text of the Regulation will be adopted in the foreseeable future. To learn more about the practical implications for businesses and how to prepare for the new legal framework, please join our webcast on July 15.
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EU Data Protection Regulators Issue Several Opinions on Key EU Data Protection Issues
The body of European data protection regulators known as the Article 29 Working Party (WP29) has been exceptionally prolific lately. In April 2014, WP29 adopted no less than five opinions and issued a number of other statements and letters on various topics. While not directly binding, WP29’s publications offer insight into the regulators’ views, which are generally a good indication of how the regulators will seek to apply the law.
In this article, we provide an overview of the most important documents issued. We discuss Opinion 5/2014 on anonymization,1 Opinion 6/2014 on legitimate interests as a basis for processing,2 the letter to Commissioner Viviane Reding on data transfers from the EU to the U.S.,3 and the letter to the Council of the EU on the one-stop-shop mechanism.4
Continue Reading EU Data Protection Regulators Issue Several Opinions on Key EU Data Protection Issues