Why is US Held to Different Surveillance Standard than European Countries?

Interesting article asking the question: why is the US held to a different standard than a European country when it comes to data transfer?  Click here to read it. France engages in a similar level of "US government" surveillance  - a level that led to the ECJ striking down Safe Harbor (and everyone knows that most EU member country governments engage in basically the same type and level of data gathering as does the US government.  Now that the ECJ has laid down the test, i.e., equivalent level of protection, it will be interesting to see how the EU and DPAs evaluate the US going forward and, in particular, the hoped-for Safe Harbor 2.0.  See also my legal blog "Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel."