An independent advisory body on data privacy in the European Union (“EU”), known as the Article 29 Working Party (“Working Party”), released its statement and opinion on the EU-United States (“U.S.”) Privacy Shield, making no endorsement of the plan and offering criticisms of unresolved issues. As King & Spalding previously reported, the European Commission (“EC”) and U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) published the text of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield on February 29, 2016, along with a draft adequacy decision, pending European authorities’ approval. The Privacy Shield would serve as a potential basis for transatlantic transfers of personal data, replacing the Safe Harbor Framework, which was invalidated by the European Court of Justice in October 2015.

The Working Party was established by Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and is dedicated to protecting individuals with regards to the processing and free movement of personal data. The group is comprised of representatives from EU countries’ data protection supervisory authorities, a representative from the European Data Protection Supervisor, and a representative from the EC, and provides independent advice on data protection efforts.