| This article takes a look at the European Commission’s Directive on Data Protection (95/46/EC), and the establishment of the adequacy requirement, which prevents Member States from transferring data to a third country, unless the third country ensures an adequate level of protection. The Directive also explores certain related concepts, including the Working Party and data/information embargoes. Finally, the article takes a look at the US data protection approach and its ability to meet the EC’s adequacy standard. [...] The EU-US Safe Harbor framework was developed to facilitate the cross-border transmission of information, as well as ensure high standards of privacy protection. This article explores the implementation of these principles in context of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) Safe Harbor [...] The Safe Harbor framework deals with privacy protection around the transfer of personal data between organizations in European Union (EU) member states to organizations located in the United States. This article explores the purposes and requirements of the Safe Harbor framework. It also provides information for US-based organizations who may participate in the Safe Harbor framework. What is Safe Harbor?
In October 1998, the European Commission Directive on Data Protection went into effect. The Directive prohibited the transfer of personal data from EU member states to non-EU nations that did not meet the adequacy standard of privacy protection. There are significant differences [...] The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act was passed in 1998 by the FTC to protect the personal information of children. It specifically applies to websites that target children and provides guidelines for the collection, use and disclosure of personally identifiable information of children under the age of 13 who may not understand the dangers of disclosing personal information on the [...] Safe Harbor is an advantageous agreement between the United States and the European Union that governs the protection of data during transfer from the E.U. to the U.S. American companies wishing to do business with companies in the E.U. may receive certification, stating they have implemented data protection principles that are similar and equal to those of the E.U. Data Protection Directive, and are then allowed unrestricted data transfers with entities in the E.U. Recently, the FTC– the U.S. body governing enforcement of Safe Harbor– has begun to crack down on U.S. companies claiming Safe Harbor compliance, but failing to implement the required protection standards. Multi-national companies must now take a strong look at their privacy policies and notices to ensure they are Safe Harbor compliant and avoid Federal [...] The Europeans value privacy; it is a fundamental human right in their eyes. The European Commission began legal action against the United Kingdom Tuesday for failure to “ensure, among other things, the confidentiality of communications by prohibiting interception and surveillance without the user’s [...] | |
