On October 6, 2015, the European Court of Justice invalidated the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework (Safe Harbor), which previously provided a valid mechanism for data transfers from the European Union to the U.S. This decision may have extraordinary consequences for the over 4,400 companies that rely on Safe Harbor, which has been in place for 15 years. Given the impact of this decision, the European Commission has scheduled discussions next week in Brussels and plans to schedule more to “provide a coordinated analysis” and “determine the consequence on transfers.”
Any U.S. entities that receive personal data from the EU, whether under Safe Harbor or otherwise, should expect increased scrutiny of their U.S. privacy and data security practices from the EU side of the transfer. For more insight on the decision and the immediately available options for companies seeking to transfer data from the European Union to the U.S., see the October 6, 2015 Client Alert