Privacy Shield: Imperfect and Incomplete

In an article published in Computer Weekly, Faegre Baker Daniels partner Huw Beverley-Smith provided a policy and procedural analysis of the Privacy Shield, a proposed regime of safeguards and regulations for transatlantic data-sharing. The European Commission (EC) put forth the  proposal in February. The new framework will replace Safe Harbor, which “was used by more than 4,000 companies from 2000 until 2015, when the Court of Justice of the European Union decided it did not provide an adequate level of protection for EU citizens’ personal data,” Beverley-Smith wrote.

The Privacy Shield is working its way through EU committee procedures. Most recently, the Article 29 Working Party (WP29) issued an opinion on the law in which it indexed a handful of “outstanding issues,” Beverley-Smith wrote. He acknowledged that the political process of approving the new policy could take some time.

“Adoption is unlikely before June 2016 and, even then, the scheme is likely to be challenged by national data protection authorities and individuals,” Beverley-Smith wrote. “The Privacy Shield may not be a perfect solution. It does, however, build on and hugely improve the Safe Harbour scheme.”