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Advocate General Yves Bot today delivered an opinion recommending that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) find the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Program invalid. His opinion, while non-binding, relates to a request for a preliminary ruling referred to the ECJ by the High Court of Ireland, Irish Court in Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner, (ECJ, No. C362/14, 23 Sept 2015).

In light Edward Snowden’s disclosures of systematic monitoring of communications by the U.S government, Maximillian Schrems, an Austrian citizen, complained to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner. When the Irish Data Protection Authority did not investigate, Schrems brought an action in the Irish courts challenging that decision.

The Advocate General’s Opinion sets out two significant recommendations.

  1. EU Member States’ national data protection (DPA) authorities must be able to investigate complaints that call into question the level of protection ensured by a third country, such as the United States, and be able to suspend transfers of personal data if the DPA considers the transfer to undermine individuals’ protections.
  2. Commission Decision 2000/520/EC, which found transfers of personal data to the U.S. under the Safe Harbor Program provided an adequate level of protection for transfers of personal data under Article 26 of the EU Data Protective Directive 95/46/EC, should be declared invalid as Safe Harbour cannot ensure an adequate level of protection.

Continue Reading Safe Harbor Invalid! Will the ECJ follow the Advocate General recommendation?

Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce, Industry & Textiles in India, emphasised, at a bilateral meeting with the European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, that in order for the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between the EU and India to be successful, India must be declared an adequate country for data transfers.…

This post was also written by Rosanne Kay.

Reed Smith hosted a seminar in its London office to discuss issues companies face arising from poor Records Management, Data Protection, E-Disclosure and the Proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation. Speakers included the UK Information Commissioner’s Office Head of Strategic Liaison, Jonathan Bamford, and Reed Smith…

Not only did the U.S. Department of Commerce submit an informal paper (as discussed in a previous post on this blog), but it has come to light that intense lobbying from the United States has influenced a “watering down” of the draft EU Data Protection Regulation.

Even within the EU, certain provisions of the…

This post was written by Nick Tyler.

The EU Commission has recently approved Israel as a country providing “an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the European Union”.

This follows a lengthy process which was nearly derailed, after Irish Government objections, following the assassination in Dubai last January of a Hamas official allegedly committed by agents of Mossad, Israel’s Secret Service, and associated allegations of identity theft involving the passports of Irish (as well as UK) citizens.Continue Reading Israel is welcomed to the ranks of EU-approved personal data destinations

This post was also written by Nick Tyler.

Having hosted and won the very first ‘soccer’ World Cup in 1930, and then having won it again twenty years later, Uruguay belongs to a very exclusive band of multiple-World Cup winning countries. Having reached the semi-finals of this year’s tournament (for the fifth time in…

This post was also written by Nick Tyler.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator, has recently responded to the UK Government’s Call for Evidence on the current data protection legislative framework. The Ministry of Justice sought evidence about how the European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and the Data Protection Act…