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| Europe’s Privacy Watchdogs Call for Changes to U.S. Data Transfer Deal | Europe’s Privacy Watchdogs Call for Changes to U.S. Data Transfer Deal |
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| Europe cannot make up its mind about how to protect people’s privacy. | Europe cannot make up its mind about how to protect people’s privacy. |
| Only two months after the region’s policy makers agreed to a data-sharing agreement with American officials that allowed companies like Facebook to move individuals’ personal data across the Atlantic, European privacy watchdogs said on Wednesday that the deal still did not offer their citizens sufficient protections. | Only two months after the region’s policy makers agreed to a data-sharing agreement with American officials that allowed companies like Facebook to move individuals’ personal data across the Atlantic, European privacy watchdogs said on Wednesday that the deal still did not offer their citizens sufficient protections. |
| Though the national regulators’ statement is nonbinding, it is a major setback for European and United States negotiators who had spent years hammering out a data-transfer agreement that polices how companies like Google and General Electric, among others, can move data as varied as employees’ financial information and social media posts between the two regions. | Though the national regulators’ statement is nonbinding, it is a major setback for European and United States negotiators who had spent years hammering out a data-transfer agreement that polices how companies like Google and General Electric, among others, can move data as varied as employees’ financial information and social media posts between the two regions. |
| And because European data protection authorities have the power to investigate and, in some cases, to fine companies that have broken tough privacy rules in the region, legal experts say that Wednesday’s decision to not fully endorse the “E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield” might lead to continuing uncertainty on how personal information is handled by some of the world’s largest companies. | And because European data protection authorities have the power to investigate and, in some cases, to fine companies that have broken tough privacy rules in the region, legal experts say that Wednesday’s decision to not fully endorse the “E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield” might lead to continuing uncertainty on how personal information is handled by some of the world’s largest companies. |
| “From the outside, it must look like Europe can’t speak with one voice on privacy,” said Patrick van Eecke, a data protection lawyer at DLA Piper in Brussels. “This is becoming kind of a circus.” | “From the outside, it must look like Europe can’t speak with one voice on privacy,” said Patrick van Eecke, a data protection lawyer at DLA Piper in Brussels. “This is becoming kind of a circus.” |
| As part of their announcement on Wednesday, European national privacy regulators said the data-transfer agreement was an improvement on previous rules. But they said they remained concerned over American intelligence agencies’ apparent indiscriminate access to their citizens’ personal data when it is transferred to the United States. | As part of their announcement on Wednesday, European national privacy regulators said the data-transfer agreement was an improvement on previous rules. But they said they remained concerned over American intelligence agencies’ apparent indiscriminate access to their citizens’ personal data when it is transferred to the United States. |
| That access, according to the privacy watchdogs, is not matched with protections currently offered in Europe, and new legal mechanisms to allow Europeans to monitor how their data is used in the United States need to be strengthened. | That access, according to the privacy watchdogs, is not matched with protections currently offered in Europe, and new legal mechanisms to allow Europeans to monitor how their data is used in the United States need to be strengthened. |
| “We believe there’s still work to do,” Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, France’s data protection chief, who also heads a Pan-European regulatory privacy group, said on Wednesday. “We need to ensure that protections of the Privacy Shield are indeed essentially equivalent to what is available in Europe.” | “We believe there’s still work to do,” Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, France’s data protection chief, who also heads a Pan-European regulatory privacy group, said on Wednesday. “We need to ensure that protections of the Privacy Shield are indeed essentially equivalent to what is available in Europe.” |
| Ms. Falque-Pierrotin called on the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union that had negotiated the data-transfer agreement, to make further changes to the deal to meet the regulators’ concerns. | Ms. Falque-Pierrotin called on the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union that had negotiated the data-transfer agreement, to make further changes to the deal to meet the regulators’ concerns. |
| That included fears that indiscriminate bulk collection of Europeans’ data by United States and European intelligence agencies failed to comply with the region’s tough data protection rules. The privacy regulators also said the independence of a United States ombudsman reviewing European data protection complaints must be strengthened. | That included fears that indiscriminate bulk collection of Europeans’ data by United States and European intelligence agencies failed to comply with the region’s tough data protection rules. The privacy regulators also said the independence of a United States ombudsman reviewing European data protection complaints must be strengthened. |
| Vera Jourova, the European justice commissioner, said in a statement on Wednesday that she would try to incorporate the regulators’ views in the final Privacy Shield pact, though she did not say which of their proposals would be included. | |
| But Ms. Jourova also emphasized that attention should now turn to getting European countries’ approval for the data-transfer agreement by next month. | |
| “I count on data protection authorities to help ensure that the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield works well in practice,” she added. | |
| European privacy campaigners, including Max Schrems, an Austrian law student whose legal case against Facebook led the region’s highest court to invalidate the previous trans-Atlantic data agreement, known as “Safe Harbor,” have called for greater restrictions on how companies and United States government agencies access people’s digital information. | European privacy campaigners, including Max Schrems, an Austrian law student whose legal case against Facebook led the region’s highest court to invalidate the previous trans-Atlantic data agreement, known as “Safe Harbor,” have called for greater restrictions on how companies and United States government agencies access people’s digital information. |
| Some are also preparing legal challenges to the new Privacy Shield deal, saying that it fails to uphold Europe’s tough privacy rules, which are viewed as being on a par with other fundamental rights, like freedom of expression. | Some are also preparing legal challenges to the new Privacy Shield deal, saying that it fails to uphold Europe’s tough privacy rules, which are viewed as being on a par with other fundamental rights, like freedom of expression. |
| American officials contend that new oversight mechanisms — including the newly created ombudsman in the State Department to handle European data queries — sufficiently protect people’s privacy rights. They also add that United States safeguards over how national intelligence agencies gain access to personal data go beyond what is currently available in many countries in the European Union. | American officials contend that new oversight mechanisms — including the newly created ombudsman in the State Department to handle European data queries — sufficiently protect people’s privacy rights. They also add that United States safeguards over how national intelligence agencies gain access to personal data go beyond what is currently available in many countries in the European Union. |
| “The U.S. has a different structure than Europe, but both systems offer robust privacy protection,” Penny Pritzker, the United States commerce secretary, who led the American negotiating team to revamp the data-transfer agreement, said in a recent interview. | “The U.S. has a different structure than Europe, but both systems offer robust privacy protection,” Penny Pritzker, the United States commerce secretary, who led the American negotiating team to revamp the data-transfer agreement, said in a recent interview. |
| Despite Europe’s national regulators raising concerns over Privacy Shield, legal experts and policy makers still expect the trans-Atlantic data-transfer deal to be approved by European countries by early summer. | Despite Europe’s national regulators raising concerns over Privacy Shield, legal experts and policy makers still expect the trans-Atlantic data-transfer deal to be approved by European countries by early summer. |
| That is because the European Commission has the sole power to agree to the new rules, and because individual countries, particularly the likes of Ireland and Britain, where many American technology companies have headquarters, have given their support to the trans-Atlantic deal. | That is because the European Commission has the sole power to agree to the new rules, and because individual countries, particularly the likes of Ireland and Britain, where many American technology companies have headquarters, have given their support to the trans-Atlantic deal. |
| It remains unclear whether the European Commission will alter Privacy Shield to answer national regulators’ concerns, though it is unlikely that European officials will reopen negotiations with their American counterparts to bolster the current agreement. | It remains unclear whether the European Commission will alter Privacy Shield to answer national regulators’ concerns, though it is unlikely that European officials will reopen negotiations with their American counterparts to bolster the current agreement. |
| But by calling for changes to how digital data is moved between the two regions, Europe’s privacy regulators — which will soon gain the right to fine companies up to 4 percent of their global revenue if they are found to have broken local data protection laws — have signaled they could use their powers to restrict how some companies handle people’s digital information. | But by calling for changes to how digital data is moved between the two regions, Europe’s privacy regulators — which will soon gain the right to fine companies up to 4 percent of their global revenue if they are found to have broken local data protection laws — have signaled they could use their powers to restrict how some companies handle people’s digital information. |
| “No national regulator wants to put companies in a legal limbo,” said Alexander Whelan, a senior policy manager at Digital Europe, an industry trade body whose members include Google and Microsoft. “We’re now in a waiting game.” | “No national regulator wants to put companies in a legal limbo,” said Alexander Whelan, a senior policy manager at Digital Europe, an industry trade body whose members include Google and Microsoft. “We’re now in a waiting game.” |