European Parliament OKs Resolution Seeking To Fix 'Deficiencies' in Privacy Shield
The EU Commission should continue negotiating with the U.S. to fix "deficiencies" in the proposed Privacy Shield agreement (see 1602290003) for trans-Atlantic commercial data flows of European citizens, the European Parliament said in a nonlegislative resolution adopted Thursday. The resolution…
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passed 501-119 with 31 abstentions, said a parliament news release. Privacy Shield is being evaluated by various European governmental entities since it was introduced in February. It's expected to be approved in June by the EC, likely to be followed by a court challenge of the agreement, which replaces the 2000 safe harbor deal. Some say Privacy Shield doesn't offer strong enough data protections or redress for EU citizens. The Parliament's resolution cites "deficiencies" including: U.S. government access to data transfer under the proposed agreement; potential for the collection of bulk data; lack of independence and authority for the proposed U.S. ombudsperson to handle complaints of EU citizens who believe their data was misused (see 1603110057); and complexity of the redress system for EU citizens. "The Privacy Shield framework gives EU member state's data protection agencies a prominent role in examining data protection claims and notes their power to suspend data transfers," Parliament's release said. "It also notes the obligation placed upon the US Department of Commerce to resolve such complaints."