Adviser to European Court of Justice Says US-EU Safe Harbor

Should Be Declared Invalid -

An advisory opinion issued by the advocate general to the European Court of Justice states that the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor should be declared invalid because of U.S. intelligence access to data stored in this country.

For some 15 years, thousands of U.S. companies have relied on the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework to transfer personal data from the European Union to the U.S. in a manner that meets the requirements of the EU Data Protection Directive. In recent years, the Safe Harbor has come under increasing attack from EU privacy officials who have argued that the Safe Harbor no longer provides adequate protection for the personal information of EU citizens. Now, the Safe Harbor faces what might be its greatest challenge to date. An adviser to the European Court of Justice has concluded in a report regarding a pending case that the Safe Harbor should be declared invalid.