European Data Protection Supervisor issues opinion on EU-U.S. Privacy Shield

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli, issued this week his opinion on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The EDPS is an independent EU institution created in 2004 that assesses EU institutions on policies and legislation related to privacy and data protection and cooperates with authorities in these matters.

The EDPS emphasized on the following key aspects related to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield:

• The current draft is not solid enough and improvements should be made in order to withstand scrutiny before the ECJ.
• The Privacy Shield should offer a long-term solution regarding international data transfers to the U.S.
• The protection provided by the Privacy Shield should ensure the rights to redress, transparency, data privacy and oversight.
• It should also prevent from indiscriminate surveillance by American authorities.
• The draft should comply with the GDPR, including international data transfers.
• International companies should be aware of and comply with their obligations on privacy and data protection issues.

To sum up, the Privacy Shield should offer an equivalent data protection level to that existing in the EU.