Safe Harbor agreement unlikely by the end of January
On 6th October 2015 the European Court of Justice has ruled, that the “safe harbor” agreement is invalid. Since then there is no legitimacy for transferring personal data outside of EU-territory. According to the statement of the EU data protection authorities assembled in the Article 29 Working Party, the parties involved were supposed to find an alternative agreement by the end of January 2016. Otherwise, EU data protection authorities would have to take all necessary and appropriate actions, which may include coordinated enforcement actions consequences to be drawn at European and national level.
The European Commission informed a committee of EU member countries during a session mid of January, that there has been no progress in the negotiations so far. According to sources, who took part at the meeting, a deal could still be made at the last minute. Other participants however entitled the deadline as “unrealistic” or “unlikely”.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Giovanni Buttarelli said that the January 31 date was a “legal fiction,” that “could not be fixed, because it would not have a legal basis.” “Even if some agreement was reached, it would be a political agreement,” he added. A final deal, which met all the criteria, “would take months,” he said.
The next meeting of the EU’s Article 29 Working Group will be on February 2. It is to expect, which measures will be taken against companies that still transfer data outside of the EU-territory based on the invalid safe harbor agreement.
