One year Privacy Shield

The EU-US Privacy Shield is intended to protect the data of EU citizens from the US scouting device. Critics, however, have serious doubts as to whether this is currently the case. The transatlantic data package has been in operation for over a year and has now undergone a first review. The Privacy Shield is the successor to the Safe Harbor Agreement, which was repealed in a sensational ruling by the European Court of Justice.

The purpose of the Privacy Shield is to achieve a similar level of data protection in the US as in the EU, so that the data of the EU citizens in the US are just as protected as here on land. In particular, it should be achieved:

– the data should be safe from excessive mass surveillance by US authorities (eg the NSA),
– an ombudsperson established in the State Department that EU citizens can contact directly,
– no indefinite storage of personal data of EU citizens by companies.

2400 companies have been certified for the Privacy Shield since its introduction. These include industry giants like Amazon, Tesla, Facebook and Google. Therefore, the importance of the Privacy Shield as a data protection regulation can not be denied. In addition to the certification remain as a legal basis only standard contractual clauses.

The first review shows, however, that the Privacy Shield is still controversial and the central demands, such as the Ombudsman, have not yet been implemented by the US government. In addition, US President Trump has already shortly after taking office, the privacy of non-Americans by way of a decree.

Nevertheless, responsible EU Justice Commissioner Vera Journová is not dissatisfied with the first year. While it is warned that the Ombudsperson should be appointed as soon as possible, she is confident that the US is now taking the concerns of Europeans seriously.

However, critics continue to complain that too little is done to enforce existing claims and that the Privacy Shield does not meet the requirements set out in the Safe Harbor ruling.