Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Privacy

EU Says US Data Deal ‘Close’ Despite Missed Deadline

The EU’s top justice official on Monday said a deal towards sealing a new transatlantic data-sharing pact was close, despite a missed deadline that could mean a crippling blow to American online giants including Facebook and Google.

The EU’s top justice official on Monday said a deal towards sealing a new transatlantic data-sharing pact was close, despite a missed deadline that could mean a crippling blow to American online giants including Facebook and Google.

European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said months of talks were nearing a deal that would replace the 16-year-old “safe harbour” agreement that was struck down by Europe’s top court for insufficiently protecting Internet users from US spying.

“We are close, but an additional effort is needed,” Jourova told a European Parliamentary committee hearing in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, a day after a January 31 deadline to reach the deal.

“I will not hide that these talks have not been easy,” she added.

The European Court of Justice in October ruled that the EU-US arrangement allowing firms to transfer European citizens’ personal information to the US was “invalid” because of US snooping practices exposed by Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who leaked a hoard of National Security Agency documents.

The case stemmed from a legal challenge brought by Austrian Internet activist and law student Max Schrems against Facebook in Ireland.

Schrems in a tweet said Jourova’s remarks to MEPs were “100 percent laughable” and signalled he would head back to the EU’s top court.

EU officials had set a January 31 deadline for a new pact, in time for a meeting Tuesday bringing together the heads of the bloc’s 28 data privacy watchdogs, many of whom are quite sympathetic to the Schrems case.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

But Jourova said she would hold further talks with her US counterparts, including later on Monday, as she defended the extension in negotiations to sceptical MEPs.

“I believe that the close partnership between Europe and the United States deserves these special efforts on their side and on our side as well,” she said.

Since the court decision, major Internet firms in Europe technically no longer have the legal protection for transferring data of EU citizens to the US.

Top European and US trade groups in mid-January warned of enormous fallout for businesses and customers if the two sides fail to strike a deal.

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Artificial Intelligence

Two of humanity’s greatest drivers, greed and curiosity, will push AI development forward. Our only hope is that we can control it.

Cybersecurity Funding

Los Gatos, Calif-based data protection and privacy firm Titaniam has raised $6 million seed funding from Refinery Ventures, with participation from Fusion Fund, Shasta...

Privacy

Many in the United States see TikTok, the highly popular video-sharing app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, as a threat to national security.The following is...

Privacy

Employees of Chinese tech giant ByteDance improperly accessed data from social media platform TikTok to track journalists in a bid to identify the source...

Application Security

Open banking can be described as a perfect storm for cybersecurity. At one end, small startups with financial acumen but little or no security...

Mobile & Wireless

As smartphone manufacturers are improving the ear speakers in their devices, it can become easier for malicious actors to leverage a particular side-channel for...

Government

The proposed UK Online Safety Bill is the enactment of two long held government desires: the removal of harmful internet content, and visibility into...

Cloud Security

AWS has announced that server-side encryption (SSE-S3) is now enabled by default for all Simple Storage Service (S3) buckets.