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The EU and the US have agreed a last-minute deal that allows corporations to make data transfers across the Atlantic, after a previous deal had been ruled invalid.
The old pact, known as Safe Harbour, was invalidated by the EU following revelations from whistleblower Edward Snowden about US authorities’ mass surveillance. It was said that such snooping of personal data breached the commission’s policy on data protection.
When the European Court of Justice invalidated the previous agreement, it opened up the possibility that large corporations such as Apple, Google and cloud storage services such as Dropbox would not be able to send information to data centres in the US – as has been customary for more than 10 years – as they had been deemed to not offer EU personal data “adequate protection”.
Now a new ‘political agreement’ has been made, called the EU-US Privacy Shield, with the US agreeing to protect European data more firmly, and preventing a possible stand-off between tech giants and the EU.
Andrus Ansip, vice president for the digital single market on the European Commission, said: “We have agreed on a new strong framework on data flows with the US. Our people can be sure that their personal data is fully protected.
“Our businesses, especially the smallest ones, have the legal certainty they need to develop their activities across the Atlantic.
“We have a duty to check and we will closely monitor the new arrangement to make sure it keeps delivering.
“Today’s decision helps us build a digital single market in the EU, a trusted and dynamic online environment; it further strengthens our close partnership with the US. We will work now to put it in place as soon as possible.”
According to the commission, the new arrangement states that US firms who do move data across the Atlantic will need to “commit to robust obligations” on protecting data from Europe, as well as rule out “indiscriminate mass surveillance”.
Antony Walker, from business lobby TechUK, called the agreement “extremely important”.
“The European Commission and US Administration must now show total commitment to implementing this agreement- the EU-US Privacy Shield – and getting trans-Atlantic data flows back onto a secure and stable legal footing,” he said.
“Businesses large and small across Europe need reliable and affordable legal mechanisms to enable the data transfers that underpin their operations and ability to serve customers.
“The fact that EU and US negotiators have worked day and night for several months to secure this agreement reflects how important transatlantic data flows are to the global digital economy.
