On May 18, 2016, the European American Chamber of Commerce sponsored a discussion the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework (Safe Harbor 2.0).
The panel discussed the steps that brought to the agreement between the EU Commission and US Government. More information to this regard is available at http://www.technethics.com…
The panel then discussed the key contents of the Privacy Shield. In particular, Krystin Jenci, the Director of the Office of Digital Services Industries, Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration highlighted how the Privacy Shield was drafted with the intent to provide multiple avenues to address participants’ compliance with the Privacy Shield Framework, including free dispute resolution.
To join the Framework, companies will be required to self-certify with the Department of Commerce and to publicly commit to comply with the Privacy Shield’s requirements. Joining the Framework is voluntarily, however – once the company publicly commits to comply with the Framework- compliance becomes enforceable.
Even though the improvements brought by the Privacy Shields were welcomed by several panelists, the panelists raised doubts regarding the compatibility of the Framework with the ECJ requirements. For example, concerning the lack of international commitment by the US government. The panelists also highlighted the Framework’s lack of clarity.
A participant raised an interesting point bringing the perspective of data brokers who now find themselves somewhat lost and are unsure about the requirements to be compliant with the applicable law. To this regard, one of the panelist, Laura Liguori, urged to remember that – when a US company monitors the behavior of European citizens, the GDPR will become applicable and the Privacy Shield might not matter that much anymore. Further thoughts to this regard are available at http://www.technethics.com…
For more information, Federica Romanelli.