Dive Brief:
- The European Commission said it plans to issue an explanation today of the ruling the highest EU court made last month striking down the Safe Harbour agreement.
- The Commission said the explanation is designed to reassure businesses that alternative tools can be used to transfer data, and a new EU-U.S. data transfer deal is a priority, an EU official said.
- EU data protection authorities gave firms a three-month grace period to put alternative tools in place.
Dive Insight:
On October 6, the highest EU court ruled the Safe Harbour agreement invalid. The agreement had allowed thousands of companies to transfer data easily from Europe to the United States. The court said Safe Harbour does not sufficiently protect EU citizens' personal data.
The Commission is currently negotiating a new data transfer arrangement with the United States, and EU officials want to make sure businesses know that.
U.S. SMBs have been concerned that a change to rules governing transatlantic personal data transfers may hurt them, locking them out of the market or replacing them with EU-based competitors.
"It's important to restate and reconfirm ... that the alternative tools can be used, because that is an important basis for businesses who had acted under Safe Harbour in good faith," a EU official said.
