The European Commission Adopts The EU-US Privacy Shield

On 12 July 2016, the European Commission (the "Commission") adopted the EU-US Privacy Shield, bringing to an end (at least temporarily) a period of uncertainty over the framework under which EU-US data transfers should be lawfully effected.

Background

In our previous  briefing note on this topic, we set out in detail the new measures contained in the draft Privacy Shield. We also set out in detail the reaction of the Article 29 Working Party (the "Working Party"), comprising representatives of the supervisory authority of each Member State and the EU institutions. The Working Party welcomed significant improvements in the arrangements for the transfer of data from European Union Member States to the US, but had several key concerns. The European Data Protection Supervisor also welcomed the improved arrangements, but considered that it still did not offer sufficient protection of the privacy and data protection rights of EU citizens.