EU and US officials reached an agreement on the Privacy Shield framework after two years of talks aimed at ensuring that Europeans data transferred by companies across the Atlantic would be afforded the same level of protection as in Europe.
The Privacy Shield, much like its predecessor, Safe Harbour, will allow companies to shuffle Europeans data to US offices by committing to respecting EU data protection standards and thereby avoiding EU limits on moving data outside the 28-nation bloc.
Safe Harbour was struck down by a top EU court last year on grounds that it did not protect Europeans data enough from being accessed by US spies.
Four people familiar with regulators deliberations said the cases were particularly relevant to the Privacy Shield, given that its legality under EU law hinges on bulk surveillance being allowed when it is necessary and proportionate to the risk. Washington has set out how it meets that standard.
Should EU law on bulk data collection become more restrictive, US commitments on its surveillance practices could fall short of EU standards putting the Privacy Shield on shaky ground.
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