Privacy Shield less relevant given GDPR, says data chief

On Wednesday (23 May) in an interview with EUobserver, he said the soon to be enforced data rules will provide a much higher standard of safeguards that go far beyond Privacy Shield.

"You may say Privacy Shield is still there but is less relevant for me because the entire set of standards, including the transfer, should be subject to higher standards," he said.

Privacy Shield is a self-certifying legal framework enforced by the Americans that allows US tech firms to transfer data of Europeans back to the United States on the basis they respect European privacy laws.

GDPR is a European regulation that goes way beyond the scope of Privacy Shield, is enforced by European data regulators as of Friday, and wrestles away the corporate grip on people's data worldwide.

GDPR means, among other things, that people in Europe must give affirmative consent for their data to be used, that any business anywhere in the world be clear about how they use that data, and that one can demand that same data be deleted or transferred elsewhere.

It also means companies must design services that have privacy standards built in by default. The whole is supposed to protect data from things like abuse and identity theft.

"On Friday, what you do in Europe remotely is subject to GDPR in its entirety," said Buttarelli, noting that Privacy Shield will no longer be considered as a 'free pass' for US firms to use the data as they please.

The thousands of US companies like Facebook listed under shield are supposed to respect European privacy laws, but in practice, this has raised serious doubts of compliance.

The pact had to be renegotiated after the European Court of Justice scuppered its predecessor Safe Harbour in late 2015 given US mass surveillance, in the wake of secret documents leaked to the press by former US agent Edward Snowden.

The US then earlier this year renewed privacy-invasive programs like section 702 of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the National Security Agency to gather intelligence on Europeans by collecting data from fibre optic cables.

The Americans have also yet to appoint the necessary staff on their side to make sure the conditions of the Privacy Shield pact are fully respected. This includes setting up a permanent ombudsman within the US state department to field complaints by EU citizens.

US promises to meet those conditions fell apart under the Donald Trump administration despite repeated European Commission demands. Last September, Vera Jourova, the EU justice commissioner went to the United States to sort outstanding issues. She came away empty handed.

"I made clear that my patience is running to an end," Jourova told reporters last week when asked if anything has since changed.

Despite the loopholes and lack of US compliance, some MEPs maintain that Privacy Shield remains vital. MEPs in the civil liberties committee on Thursday are set to vote on a report on Privacy Shield.

One of its biggest defenders is Axel Voss, a German centre-right MEP.

"It decreases the administrative burden for businesses and keeps a safe environment for citizens' data," he said, in a statement on Wednesday.

Voss had also tabled more amendments to weaken the general data protection regulation than any other MEP, according to LobbyPlag.