EU: Data sharing with USA in terms of security and terrorism

This week, Reuters reported that the European Parliament lawmakers supported a data-sharing agreement with the USA, which aims at safeguarding the data exchange between national authorities, in order to improve security and simplify investigations in terms of terrorism.

Basically, the agreement supports personal data such as names, addresses and criminal records in case an exchange by law enforcement agencies in both Europe and the USA takes place.

Axel Voss explained that “EU citizens will have the same rights as U.S. citizens when they seek judicial redress before U.S. courts. This is a major step for the enforcement of fundamental rights for EU citizens.”

What triggered the implementation of such an agreement?

After the mass spying in 2013 by the USA, which caused privacy concerns over the question “What do enforcement agencies with the gained data after colleting it?” the need to find a regulation concerning the gathering, sharing and storing of personal data became more important than ever.

What is the following process?

It is expected that the entire Parliament approves this agreement on the 1st of Dezember 2016. From then on, the respective ministers for justice and home affairs of the 28 European Member States have to sign off the agreement in the coming weeks.