Privacy Shield Said Likely to Pass Muster During Review

Personal data transfer mechanism Privacy Shield appears likely to emerge successfully from the European Commission review that begins this week. "I'm quite sure it will pass," emailed Hogan Lovells (London) data protection lawyer Eduardo Ustaran. "I may be wrong but I do not expect a revolution," emailed Linklaters (Brussels) privacy attorney Tanguy Van Overstraeten. "The next important step will be the court review." Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook was referred by the Irish High Court to the European Court of Justice in April.

EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova will launch the second annual review with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in Brussels Thursday, an EC spokesperson said. It will "check that the Privacy Shield's requirements are respected by the U.S. both on the commercial side and on the national security side," Jourova said. After talks with the U.S. administration and gathering feedback from data protection authorities, nongovernmental organizations and businesses, the EC will publish its assessment "in the coming month," the spokesperson said.

The EC may say that although PS "is always work in progress it still provides adequate protection for data," said Ustaran. The European Parliament "was vocal against" it a few months ago, requesting it be suspended if the U.S. failed to comply (see 1806120007), "but nowadays it seems to be quieter," Van Overstraeten said. European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee Chairman Claude Moraes didn't comment.

About 4,000 European and American companies committed to complying with Privacy Shield since it became effective in July 2016, Computer & Communications Industry Association Senior Manager Alex Roure blogged Wednesday. That shows how important the system, he said. A CCIA survey showed members have compliance practices and internal governance procedures, he wrote.

Trade in services relies on data transfers and "if Europe turns off the taps it will also harm itself," said DigitalEurope and BusinessEurope. Stability in EU-U.S. data transfers is central to continued success of many sectors of the European economy, and PS is a "living instrument" that's based on mutual efforts to put and keep in place an adequate level of protection, they said. The U.S. should appoint a permanent ombudsman soon, and "we are pleased that the US Senate approved three members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight board" (see personals section of the Oct. 15 issue), they wrote.