Concern about privacy on the Internet has become a one of the most important topics of the virtual age for both consumers and governments. In part because of consumers' perception of the lack of privacy protection, governments in recent years have addressed online privacy generally either by promoting a market-driven, self-regulatory approach, such as the United States, or enacting comprehensive data protection legislation, such as member states of the European Union ("EU").
On October 24, 1995, the EU adopted a Directive on the Protection of Personal Data ("the Directive" or "Data Privacy Directive"). The Directive was designed to prevent companies operating within the EU from transmitting data electronically outside the EU unless the electronic data would be adequately protected. The EU member states are required to enact implementing legislation, including on the enforcement part, by October 24, 1998. As a result, on October 25, 1998, trans-Atlantic data transmissions could
