Safe Harbor ruled potentially unsafe

The Safe Harbor scheme may not provide adequate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal data transferred to the US from the EU, according to a recent opinion by the Advocate General (AG).

The AG’s opinion, if followed by the EU’s Court of Justice, would invalidate a ruling in 2000 by the European Commission (Decision 2000/520) that Safe Harbor did ensure an adequate level of protection.

In the AG’s opinion, this decision made excessive use of derogations including some that allow the Safe Harbor principles not to be followed in certain circumstances, mainly in the interest of national security.

If Safe Harbor is ruled inadequate because it allows the personal data of EU citizens stored in the US to be accessed by NSA and other security agencies, thousands of companies will have to find alternative ways to ensure a lawful transfer of personal data from the EU to the US.

Read more here: http://www.cms-lawnow.com/ealerts/2015/10/safe-harbor-ruled-potentially-unsafe