Search results for: privacy shield

Today, the European Commission published the text of the new EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (see the Commission’s press release here), which consists of:

  • a draft adequacy decision;
  • the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework Principles issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce; and
  • the official representations and commitments contained in separate letters from:
    • Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker (Annex I);
    • Secretary of State John Kerry (Annex III);
    • Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez (Annex IV),
    • Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx (Annex V);
    • General Counsel Robert Litt, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Annex VI); and
    • Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz, U.S. Department of Justice (Annex VII).

In addition, the European Commission issued a Communication titled “Transatlantic Data Flows: Restoring Trust through Strong Safeguards” which presents the developments and the Commission’s findings since its critical 2013 Communication on the Functioning of the Safe Harbor, a Q&A and a Fact sheet.
Continue Reading EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Package Released

As we reported yesterday, the United States and the European Commission have reached a political agreement on a new framework for transatlantic data flows, referred to as the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.  The U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) released a fact sheet yesterday to coincide with the announcement of the agreement.
Continue Reading Commerce Releases Fact Sheet on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield

On February 3rd, the Article 29 Working Party, representing Europe’s data protection authorities, published its reaction to the announcement of a new “Privacy Shield” political agreement between the European Commission and the U.S. Government.  The Privacy Shield agreement, announced on February 2nd (and further described in our blog post here), is intended to replace the now-defunct Safe Harbor Framework, and may form a future legal basis for transatlantic data flows between Europe and the United States.
Continue Reading Article 29 Working Party Reacts to the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield Agreement

Today (February 2nd, 2016), the European Commission and U.S. Government reached political agreement on the new framework for transatlantic data flows.  The new framework – the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield – succeeds the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor framework (for more on the Court of Justice of the European Union decision in the Schrems case declaring the Safe Harbor invalid, see our earlier post here).  The EU’s College of Commissioners has also mandated Vice-President Ansip and Commissioner Jourová to prepare the necessary steps to put in place the new arrangement.
Continue Reading Agreement Reached on New EU-U.S. Safe Harbor: the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield

On July 10, 2024, the U.S. Senate passed the Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (“SHIELD”) Act, which would criminalize the distribution of private sexually explicit or nude images online.  Continue Reading U.S. Senate Passes SHIELD Act to Criminalize Distribution of Private Intimate Images Online

On July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“DPF”). The decision, which took effect on the day of its adoption, concludes that the United States ensures an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the EEA to companies certified to the DPF. This blog post summarizes the key findings of the decision, what organizations wishing to certify to the DPF need to do and the process for certifying, as well as the impact on other transfer mechanisms such as the standard contractual clauses (“SCCs”), and on transfers from the UK and Switzerland.Continue Reading European Commission Adopts Adequacy Decision on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework

On February 28, 2023, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) released its non-binding opinion on the European Commission’s draft adequacy decision on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“DPF”).  The adequacy decision, once formally adopted, will establish a new legal basis by which organizations in the EU (as well as the three EEA states of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) may lawfully transfer personal data to the U.S., provided that the recipient in the U.S. certifies to and abides by the terms of the DPF (see our previous blogpost here). 

The Commission sought the EDPB’s opinion pursuant to Article 71(1)(s) of the GDPR.  The EDPB welcomes the fact that elements of the DPF represent a substantial improvement over the Privacy Shield, which was annulled by the EU Court of Justice (“CJEU”) in Schrems II (see our previous blogpost here).  Nonetheless, the EDPB notes some concerns and seeks clarification on certain aspects of the DPF from the Commission.  For example, the EDPB welcomes the establishment of a specific mechanism by which non-U.S. persons may seek redress for certain U.S. government surveillance of their personal data, but calls on the Commission to closely monitor the implementation of this mechanism in practice.Continue Reading EDPB Releases its Opinion on the Proposed EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework

On December 13, 2022, the European Commission released its draft adequacy decision on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“EU-U.S. DPF”), which, once formally adopted, would recognize that the United States ensures an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the EU to organizations certified under the EU-U.S. DPF.  The draft decision follows the issuance of Executive Order 14086 on Enhancing Safeguards for U.S. Signals Intelligence Activities (“EO 14086”) by President Biden on October 7, 2022 (see our previous blog post here), and the political agreement reached between the EU and the U.S. in March 2022 (see our previous blog post here).

As many had expected, the draft adequacy decision assesses the limitations and safeguards relating to the collection and subsequent use of personal data transferred to controllers and processors in the United States by U.S. public authorities.  In particular, the draft decision assesses whether the conditions under which the U.S. government may access data transferred to the United States fulfill the “essential equivalence” test pursuant to Article 45(1) of the GDPR, as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in Schrems II (see our previous blog post here). Continue Reading European Commission Releases Draft Adequacy Decision on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework

On October 7, 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order directing the steps that the United States will take to implement its commitments under the new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.  The framework was announced by the U.S. and the EU Commission in March 2022, after reaching a political agreement in…

Continue Reading President Biden Signs Executive Order to Implement EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework

Introduction

In this update, we detail the key legislative developments in the second quarter of 2021 related to artificial intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”), and federal privacy legislation.  As we recently covered on May 12,  President Biden signed an Executive Order to strengthen the federal government’s ability to respond to and prevent cybersecurity threats, including by removing obstacles to sharing threat information between private sector entities and federal agencies and modernizing federal systems.  On the hill, lawmakers have introduced a number of proposals to regulate AI, IoT, CAVs, and privacy.
Continue Reading U.S. AI, IoT, CAV, and Privacy Legislative Update – Second Quarter 2021