Skip to main content

New EU-US data transfer agreement, 'Privacy Shield,' is made official

Privacy Shield, the much-debated data transfer agreement that will replace Safe Harbor, has been approved by the European Union.

The 28 member states of the EU approved the data transfer deal today following extensive debate and some controversy over the protections it provided to EU citizens’ data when transferred to the U.S. Under the terms of the new deal, Privacy Shield will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Recommended Videos

The original agreement, Safe Harbor, was struck down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in October of last year over concerns about how EU data was being treated once it was transferred to the U.S.

Safe Harbor provided that U.S. companies would handle European data with care once it entered the U.S but this never provided any real guarantee that the data was safe from the U.S. mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013. The ECJ agreed and threw the legal basis for data transfers out the window, leaving companies like Google and Facebook in legal limbo.

The new Privacy Shield allows for legally official transfers to recommence across the Atlantic once again. The European Commission has called Privacy Shield “fundamentally different” from Safe Harbor with greater protections for EU citizens’ data as U.S. companies are required to treat European data with the same protections it would have at home.

“For the first time, the U.S. has given the EU written assurance that the access of public authorities for law enforcement and national security will be subject to clear limitations, safeguards, and oversight mechanisms and has ruled out indiscriminate mass surveillance of European citizens’ data,” said Andrus Ansip, Vice President for the Digital Single Market on the European Commission and Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova in a shared statement.

Among the new provisions of Privacy Shield is the establishment of a U.S. ombudsman who can investigate complaints from EU citizens pertaining to surveillance or data abuses at the hands of authorities.

However, critics of the deal warn that it is still toothless when it comes to truly preventing EU data getting caught up in mass surveillance once it has come under U.S. jurisdiction.

The deal is “flawed,” wrote Tomaso Falchetta, legal officer at U.K.-based digital rights group Privacy International. He stated that it fails to fully address the surveillance concerns by the ECJ in a case brought by Austrian lawyer Max Schrems last year that led to this very situation and it’s likely that the Privacy Shield deal will be challenged in the courts in the near future.

Finally, four countries abstained from the vote (reportedly Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovenia), which may cause friction when the first annual review of Privacy Shield comes around.

Jonathan Keane
Jonathan is a freelance technology journalist living in Dublin, Ireland. He's previously written for publications and sites…
Intuit QuickBooks summer savings have us excited for bookkeeping and more
Intuit QuickBooks Online and Payroll Indepence Day deals used by business owner

Being honest, accounting, bookkeeping, and various administrative tasks aren't exactly what most people would call exciting, even if they own a business. It's something you have to do, but not that you necessarily want to do. But you absolutely have to stay on top of it; otherwise, things could get out of hand later, like when you're filing taxes or trying to calculate expenses. As a leader in small business fintech, Intuit QuickBooks is helping over 7 million customers worldwide do precisely that. From a startup to scaling up, the Intuit QuickBooks ecosystem delivers products and services that are a core component of small business growth. Accounting, payroll, payments, capital, and even marketing assistance via Mailchimp are just a few examples of what you can expect from a QuickBooks subscription. Thanks to its current Summer Sale, you can save a never-before-seen 70% off Intuit QuickBooks plans. That offer and these prices excite us for something that, typically, wouldn't be considered exciting.

Save Now

Read more
What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app
A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Read more
How to create a new team in Microsoft Teams
Example of Teams chat.

Few communication applications are as versatile as Microsoft Teams. Along with allowing you to send quick messages to teammates or launch a video chat, the software is fully integrated with Office 365 so you can optimize its performance. If you know how to use Microsoft Teams, you'll know that one of its most useful features is the ability to create a new team.

Knowing how to make a new team and how to properly organize teams makes it easy for a company to enhance productivity and streamline communication. When used effectively, Microsoft Teams is useful for both in-office and remote workers, ensuring everyone stays on the same page regardless of location.

Read more