On July 12, 2016, the EU Commission and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced the adoption of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (Privacy Shield). This announcement follows today’s adequacy decision by the College of EU Commissioners which recognizes that the Privacy Shield provides an adequate level of protection under EU data protection law. The adequacy decision … Continue Reading
The State of Tennessee recently amended its data breach notification statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-18-2107, which is set to go into effect on July 1, 2016. Numerous commentators have proclaimed that the amendment1 marks a watershed moment—that with the enactment of S.B. 2005, Tennessee becomes the first state to eliminate the encryption safe harbor … Continue Reading
Two recent developments have significantly increased the already uncertain legal landscape surrounding transatlantic data flows. Earlier today, the EU Parliament voted out a resolution calling on the European Commission (EU Commission) to further negotiate the terms of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (Privacy Shield). And yesterday, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) announced the launch of … Continue Reading
On April 13, 2016, the body of European Data Protection Authorities (DPAs)—the “Article 29 Working Party” (WP29)—issued its opinion on the new EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The WP29 acknowledged that progress has been made with the Privacy Shield, but called for several significant changes to the shield before it can be found to provide protection that … Continue Reading
On February 29, 2016, the European Commission unveiled the text of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield is designed to replace the invalidated EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Framework and to provide a new legal framework for data transfers from the EU to the U.S. Although the Privacy Shield is based on the same principles as … Continue Reading
On December 15, 2015, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a political agreement on the text of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).1 This is a major step toward the official adoption of the GDPR, which is now expected in Spring 2016. The GDPR will have a significant impact … Continue Reading
On February 3, 2016, the body of European data protection regulators—the Article 29 Working Party (WP29)—issued a statement following the announcement of a political agreement regarding a new transatlantic data transfer scheme, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. This is the second guidance document issued by the WP29 following the invalidation of the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Framework … Continue Reading
On February 2, 2016, the European Commission announced that a political agreement on a new legal framework for data transfers has been reached between the European Union (EU) and the U.S. Today’s agreement introduces the new “EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.” Although the details of the new agreement have not yet been released, this is a crucial … Continue Reading
On October 6, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor framework as a legal basis for transferring personal data from the European Union to the U.S.1 The judgment was delivered in Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner, a case in which Max Schrems, an Austrian student, complained to … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) enforcement actions for claims of compliance with Safe Harbor privacy frameworks by U.S. companies have increased significantly over the past few months. In the first two months of 2014 alone, the FTC announced settlements with 13 U.S. companies over allegations that the companies falsely claimed they held current certifications under … Continue Reading
