US Team Working To Address Privacy Shield Questions Before Votes
One of the lead Department of Commerce negotiators who helped craft the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework on trans-Atlantic data flows (see 1602290003) said team members are spending as much time in Europe trying to clarify and answer questions about the framework as when they negotiated the new deal replacing a safe harbor agreement. Ted Dean, deputy assistant secretary in the department's International Trade Administration, spoke Monday at an Akin Gump and CompTIA event.
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The official said team members are responding to questions from the Article 29 Working Party, composed of national data protection authorities, that will be offering a nonbinding -- but likely influential -- opinion on Privacy Shield next week. Dean said that the team is also speaking with member state parliaments that, in some cases, are holding hearings as well on the new framework. "We recognize it's a very important framework, but it covers a lot of ground," he said, pointing to the data transfer requirements for companies, law enforcement agencies and national security.
Dean said new elements include notice requirements, deadlines, arbitration process and an ombudsperson to resolve disputes. He acknowledged that Privacy Shield is a "complicated package" but described it as a sign of the work the Obama administration has put into creating this deal.
An often-asked question concerns the durability of the agreement, Dean said. He said the old safe harbor agreement was negotiated under the Clinton administration, implemented during the George W. Bush administration and continued under the Obama administration, so there is precedent. But these commitments are being implemented programmatically within Commerce, meaning that it will be more permanent although not impossible for a future administration to undo, he said. Plus, he said that the framework will have an ongoing annual review, giving Commerce a way to see if it's doing things correctly.
Dean said his team is planning to develop a website, and trying to figure out how to manage the self-certification process for companies. He said a lot of energy is going into ensuring resources and systems are in place to deliver on the processes established by Privacy Shield. After the Article 29 Working Party offers its opinion, a qualified majority of the member states must approve Privacy Shield, he said. But Dean added that he believes the agreement will be approved and withstand a challenge in Europe's high court (see 1603170028).