Tag Archives: privacy shield

Privacy Shield Update: Commission Report, Ombudsperson Deadline, Brexit Guidance

The end of 2018 saw heightened activity surrounding the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. This blog post provides a news roundup on the following developments: • The European Commission’s (the “Commission”) December 19th report (the “Report”) summarizing the second annual joint review that was held in October 2018. • The Report’s February 28, 2019 deadline for … Continue Reading

EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework Joint Annual Review 2.0

By David M. Brown on October 30, 2018 Posted in Enforcement, International Privacy Law

As we previously reported here, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced several enforcement actions in late 2017, on the eve of the first annual joint EU-U.S. review of the Privacy Shield Framework. Now the second annual review of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework is underway, and the FTC has announced several new enforcement actions, which … Continue Reading

Privacy Shield Update: Ahead of First Joint Review, Europeans Remain Skeptical as FTC Announces Enforcement Actions

By Melinda L. McLellan and Emily R. Fedeles on September 12, 2017 Posted in Enforcement, International Privacy Law

On September 8, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced enforcement actions against three companies alleged to have falsely claimed participation in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. The move follows several months of uncertainty surrounding the Framework’s future as EU officials and privacy advocates have questioned its efficacy and validity in the run-up to the … Continue Reading

Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework to Launch April 12

By Melinda L. McLellan and Emily R. Fedeles on January 14, 2017 Posted in International Privacy Law

On January 11, 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Swiss Federal Council and the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) issued press releases announcing that an agreement has been reached on a new cross-border data transfer mechanism, the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework (the Swiss Privacy Shield). The Swiss Privacy Shield replaces its … Continue Reading

Privacy Shield to Open for Business August 1

By Melinda L. McLellan and Jenna N. Felz on July 20, 2016 Posted in International Privacy Law

After more than two years of negotiations, on July 12, 2016, the European Commission formally adopted the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (the “Privacy Shield”) framework as a valid mechanism for transfers of personal data from the EU to the U.S. Touting the Privacy Shield as “a robust new system to protect the personal data of Europeans … Continue Reading

Privacy Shield Developments and UK Data Transfers Post-Brexit

By Melinda L. McLellan and Jenna N. Felz on June 28, 2016 Posted in International Privacy Law

With the UK’s Brexit referendum dominating the news out of Europe over the past week, it may have been easy to miss a key development in the continuing Privacy Shield negotiations. On Friday, June 24, news outlets reported that U.S. regulators and the European Commission had agreed on a finalized version from the Privacy Shield, a proposed … Continue Reading

German Data Protection Authority Issues Fines for Unlawful Cross-Atlantic Data Transfers

By Jenna N. Felz, Melinda L. McLellan and Alexandra Beierlein on June 9, 2016 Posted in Enforcement, International Privacy Law

The Data Protection Authority of Hamburg, Germany has made good on its promise to audit cross-Atlantic data transfers in the wake of the October 2015 Safe Harbor decision. On June 6, the Hamburg DPA announced that it had fined three companies for unlawful transfers of personal data from the EU to the United States. According … Continue Reading

Safe Harbor Part Deux: The Privacy Shield

By Tanya Forsheit on February 3, 2016 Posted in International Privacy Law

This week began like many. An arbitrary deadline came and went – this one, January 31, 2016, was set by the Article 29 Working Party for European and United States regulators to address the void created by the invalidation of the Safe Harbor Framework for EU-U.S. data transfers in the Schrems decision back in October. … Continue Reading

Safe Harbor Is Dead, Long Live Standard Contractual Clauses?

By Melinda L. McLellan and William W. Hellmuth on October 22, 2015 Posted in Enforcement, International Privacy Law

For the past 15 years, the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Framework has been one of the most popular data transfer mechanisms for organizations that engage in cross-border transfers of EU personal data to the United States. In the aftermath of the recent invalidation of the Safe Harbor Framework by the Court of Justice of the European … Continue Reading

What Now? What Next? FAQs and Answers Regarding the Safe Harbor Decision

By Tanya Forsheit and Melinda L. McLellan on October 12, 2015 Posted in Enforcement, International Privacy Law

As we discussed in our blog post last week, on October 6, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a judgment that invalidated the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor Framework. For the past 15 years, thousands of companies have been using the Safe Harbor Framework to transfer personal data from the EU to the … Continue Reading

EU High Court Invalidates Safe Harbor Framework for Cross-Border Data Transfers

By Melinda L. McLellan and James A. Sherer on October 7, 2015 Posted in Enforcement, International Privacy Law

On October 6, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a highly anticipated judgment that has the potential to impact how thousands of companies transfer data from the EU to the United States. The Court’s decision effectively invalidates the European Commission’s “adequacy” determination with respect to the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework, … Continue Reading