The European Commission Unveils the new EU-US Privacy Shield

Since our last briefing note on this topic, on 29 February 2016 the European Commission (the "Commission") published the legal texts that will put in place the EU-US Privacy Shield together with a Communication setting out the steps that have been taken to restore confidence in the exchange of data between the EU and the US.

The Commission has also issued a draft adequacy decision, stating that the safeguards provided when data are transferred under the Privacy Shield are equivalent to the data protection standards of the EU.

The US Judicial Redress Act, which gives EU citizens the right to enforce data protection rights in US courts, was signed by President Obama on 24 February 2016. The EU-US Umbrella Agreement, which was conditional upon the creation of the US Judicial Redress Act, has now been signed. The Umbrella Agreement implements a comprehensive data protection framework for criminal law enforcement cooperation. It is not yet in effect and