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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Briefings

A New Safe Harbor? The 'EU-US Privacy Shield'

4 February 2016

Following the decision of the European Court of Justice on the 6 October 2015 to declare the old EU/US Safe Harbor Framework invalid, representatives of the European Commission and the US Department of Commerce have been negotiating, and consulting with business and industry representatives, to reach a new agreement which would adequately address concerns in relation to the protection of data transferred from the EU to the US.

EU data protection laws prohibit transfers of personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area which do not ensure "adequate" protection for such transferred data.  The Safe Harbor Framework had been a key tool used by businesses to address this prohibition and the decision rendered a significant number of on-going data transfers potentially unlawful.

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