U.S. Department Of Commerce Clarifies The Rules On U.S.-EU Safe Harbor In Cloud Computing

In April, the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA) issued a document clarifying the application of the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework to cloud computing (the clarification). The ITA believes the Safe Harbor framework is "comprehensive and flexible enough" to cover cloud computing in the same way as other data transfers.

ITA reminded those certified to Safe Harbor that EU law requires data controllers to enter into a contract with any data processor even if the controller will rely on Safe Harbor. These contracts should prescribe the processor's roles and responsibilities, with one of the benefits of safe harbor being that the contract does not need to include the standard contractual clauses and does not need to be authorised by any of the EU Member States.