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June 19 2014

European Regulators, FTC Unveil Cross-Border Data Transfer Tool

"After a year of collaboration on the effort, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), together with data protection authorities from around the world, held a press conference at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit to announce a joint agreement between the G29 and APEC countries aiming to aid companies in achieving compliance with global data transfers. Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, chairwoman of the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) and president of the Article 29 Working Party, said the tool, called a ""referential,"" is a ""very political and symbolic act"" for companies seeking to obtain double certification under Europe 's binding corporate rules (BCRs) and APEC 's cross-border privacy rules (CBPRs). The referential is a pragmatic checklist that compares and identifies the common principles among BCRs and CBPRs and aims to help companies identify additional requirements they may need to comply with in order for their data transfers to be legal. Falque-Pierrotin specified, however, that the referential does not aim to create a mutual-recognition system. FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said the U.S. is committed to continuing working with the EU on data transfer mechanisms such as BCRs and Safe Harbor, and that 's why this tool is an important step in the dialogue."