safe harbor

EU-US Privacy Shield: The Future Framework for Transatlantic Data Flows?

Marjorie Becker LL.M., Columbia Law School, 2016 By striking down the 15-year old Safe Harbor Framework in its decision Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner on October 6, 2015,[1] the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) left most self-certified U.S. companies in limbo. The Privacy Shield announced on February 2, 2016 by the EU Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), however, may yet provide relief to some of them. This new framework comprises various documents—summarized in the draft adequacy decision and related annexes released on February 29, 2016—and aims to comply with the requirements of Schrems by […]

The End of a Safe Harbor: The Schrems Decision Calls for Stricter Standards for Protection of Personal Data Transferred to the US

Traci Biedermann J.D. Candidate, Columbia Law School, 2017 Scrutiny of the United States’ measures for protection of personal data from government surveillance has increased following Snowden’s revelations regarding the National Security Agency (NSA). In fact, these revelations are still making ripples in the area of data protection, one such being the case of Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner (Case C-362/14). Fearing that his data was being improperly protected after transmission to the US by Facebook, Maximillian Schrems, filed a complaint alleging that the US did not have adequate protections against government surveillance of his personal data. Under the EU Data […]