Note On The European Commission's Adequacy Decision In Relation To The EU-US Privacy Shield

 The European Commission's adequacy decision in relation to the new rules on transfer to the United States of the data of data subjects who are citizens of the European Union – the EU-US Privacy Shield ("Privacy Shield") – was published on 12 July 2016. The Privacy Shield creates a self-certification system for US companies that wish to process data of European Union citizens. Its objective is to facilitate the transfer of data and, at the same time, impose stricter obligations on companies to protect the rights of the citizens in question.

I.EU-US PRIVACY SHIELD

The new rules introduced by the Privacy Shield follow the earlier decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which declared that the European Commission's adequacy decision in respect of the Safe Harbour privacy principles was invalid. The Safe Harbour principles allowed the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States.