Today, the EU Commission formally approved Israel’s status as a country providing “adequate protection” for personal data under the European Data Protection Directive.  The Data Protection Directive generally prohibits personal data from being transferred outside the EU unless the data is subject to an “adequate level of protection,” or certain narrow exceptions apply.  As a result of the adequacy finding, companies will no longer need to rely on model contract clauses or obtain approvals from European DPAs before transferring data to Israel.  To date, only seven other jurisdictions, including Argentina, Canada, Switzerland, and several English Channel Islands, have qualified for adequacy status.  The U.S. is partially covered by the Safe Harbor Agreement.

In November, Covington published an e-alert with details about the European Commission determination that Israel provides adequate protection for personal data.  The European Parliament had one month to scrutinize that determination, and the Commission formally adopted a decision on the adequacy of Israel’s data protections yesterday, January 31, 2011.

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Photo of Libbie Canter Libbie Canter

Libbie Canter represents a wide variety of multinational companies on managing privacy, cyber security, and artificial intelligence risks, including helping clients with their most complex privacy challenges and the development of governance frameworks and processes to comply with U.S. and global privacy laws.

Libbie Canter represents a wide variety of multinational companies on managing privacy, cyber security, and artificial intelligence risks, including helping clients with their most complex privacy challenges and the development of governance frameworks and processes to comply with U.S. and global privacy laws. She routinely supports clients on their efforts to launch new products and services involving emerging technologies, and she has assisted dozens of clients with their efforts to prepare for and comply with federal and state laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act, the Colorado AI Act, and other state laws. As part of her practice, she also regularly represents clients in strategic transactions involving personal data, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence risk and represents clients in enforcement and litigation postures.

Libbie represents clients across industries, but she also has deep expertise in advising clients in highly-regulated sectors, including financial services and digital health companies. She counsels these companies — and their technology and advertising partners — on how to address legacy regulatory issues and the cutting edge issues that have emerged with industry innovations and data collaborations. 

Chambers USA 2024 ranks Libbie in Band 3 Nationwide for both Privacy & Data Security: Privacy and Privacy & Data Security: Healthcare. Chambers USA notes, Libbie is “incredibly sharp and really thorough. She can do the nitty-gritty, in-the-weeds legal work incredibly well but she also can think of a bigger-picture business context and help to think through practical solutions.”