A complaint from Ireland has been lodged against the Privacy Shield data protection agreement between the European Union and United States, two months after it entered into force (see EUROPE 11605).
According to a report by Reuters on Wednesday 26 October, Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) submitted an appeal against the Privacy Shield mechanism at an Irish court, arguing that this mechanism does not sufficiently guarantee the protection of private life. The Privacy Shield data protection initiative between the EU and US follows on from the Safe Harbor mechanism that was invalidated by the European Court of Justice in October 2015, following legal action launched by Max Schrems from Austria.
At the end of the negotiations, the EU and US explained that Privacy Shield seeks to strengthen the protection of European citizens when personal data is transferred to US companies. It does not rule out US national intelligence authorities having access to this data but does impose a restriction on what can be done with the data. The mass collection of personal data for public security purposes is therefore authorised but is more strictly controlled, the two sides explained. So far, 500 US companies have signed up to the new mechanism. These include Facebook, Google and Microsoft. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)