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May 26 2016

Article 29 Working Party Releases Opinion on EU-U.S. Privacy Shield

The Article 29 Working Party published its Opinion on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield draft adequacy decision. The Privacy Shield was created to replace the previous Safe Harbor framework invalidated by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Schrems decision. The Working Party also published a Working Document on the justification for interferences with the fundamental rights to privacy and data protection through surveillance measures when transferring personal data. The Working Party recognized that the Privacy Shield is a significant improvement to the Safe Harbor framework. However, the Working Party also stressed the overall complexity and lack of clarity regarding the new framework and expressed concerns with respect to both the commercial and national security aspects of the Privacy Shield. The Working Party urged the European Commission to resolve their concerns, identify appropriate solutions to improve its draft adequacy decision, and ensure the protection offered by the Privacy Shield is indeed essentially equivalent to that offered by European data protection laws.