The European Data Protection Supervisor has said that a data-sharing agreement between the EU and US that was hoped to address privacy issues was not strong enough.Privacy Shield, which is set to replace the Safe Harbor program, is aimed at restoring the trust of individuals in the transatlantic partnership and the digital economy. Safe Harbour which was ruled illegal because the privacy of European citizens' data could not be guaranteedGiovanni Buttarelli, EDPS, wrote in a statement that for the Privacy Shield to be effective it must provide adequate protection against indiscriminate surveillance as well as obligations on oversight, transparency, redress and data protection rights.”I appreciate the efforts made to develop a solution to replace Safe Harbour but the Privacy Shield as it stands is not robust enough to withstand future legal scrutiny before the Court”, he said. “Significant improvements are needed should the European Commission wish to adopt an adequacy decision, to respect the essence of key data protection principles with particular regard to necessity, proportionality and redress mechanisms. Moreover, it's time to develop a longer term solution in the transatlantic dialogue.”The EDPS highlights how he sees essential equivalence working in practice in the context of self-regulation by private organisations where data in transit or transferred to the US may routinely be assessed by law enforcement and intelligence bodies.
Watchdog: EU-US 'Privacy Shield’ is not strong enough
