Privacy Shield Agreement Between United States and European Union

The United States and European Union have just reached a “Privacy Shield” agreement following a phase of negotiations during the continued effect of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s decision in the Schrems case.

In a 2 February press release, the European Commission announced having reached an agreement with the United States based on the following three factors related to the protection of the rights of EU citizens in the context of the transfer of their data to the United States, namely reinforcement of the:

  •  obligations and commitments incumbent upon American companies that process personal data from Europe, under the supervision of the Federal Trade Commission;
  •  guaranties and obligations of transparency regarding American governmental agencies’ access to data; and
  • protection of the rights of EU citizens using a Federal Trade Commission complaint mechanism through the intermediary of an EU Member State’s National Data Protection Authority.

However, as indicated by Ms. Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, president of the French CNIL (National Commission on Informatics and Liberty) and the Article 29 Working Party, in a 3 February press conference communiqué, it is only the Commission’s declaration of intent. The Article 29 Working Party thus asks the Commission to transmit to it all related documentation by the end of February 2016, so that it may take a position on the contractual data protection measures to be taken for the transfer of data to non-EU countries.