Dive Brief:
-
Digital Rights Ireland filed a legal challenge to Privacy Shield, the EU-U.S. commercial data agreement, Reuters reports.
-
The privacy advocate group’s court filing claims Privacy Shield does not contain sufficient privacy protections.
-
Privacy Shield allows individuals or companies to challenge the pact in court if they feel it does not adequately protect EU citizens’ data.
Dive Insight:
The Privacy Shield, the new rules for transferring European Union citizens' personal information to the U.S., was officially adopted July 12 by EU and U.S. officials. It mandates that U.S. companies offer stronger protection for Europeans' personal data and also requires the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission, in cooperation with European Data Protection Authorities, to monitor and enforce data privacy violations.
The 15-year-old Safe Harbor agreement, under which about 4,000 businesses transferred personal information—such as payroll and human resources information—of EU citizens to the U.S. for storage and processing, was ruled invalid by the EU last October because of concerns over U.S. surveillance.
Reuters sources said it could be a “year or more” before the challenge is reviewed. Digital Rights Ireland declined to comment. The original version of The Privacy Shield, introduced in February, was reworked to add additional privacy protections for EU citizens before being formally adopted over the summer.
