Currently, Europe is struggling to
agree on a data-sharing deal with the US. About two months ago, European policy
makers already settled on an agreement called the EU-US Privacy Shield that
allows companies to send personal data back and forth overseas. However, European
officials are now claiming that this current agreement does not sufficiently
protect their Internet users. Negotiations will still have to be made in order
to improve this deal and satisfy both parties.
A main issue that this article
points out is how different Europe and America are in regards to the structure
of their privacy protection programs. Europe is known to have tough privacy
rules that are valued as fundamental rights. Meanwhile, American government
officials have almost unlimited access to their citizen’s personal data. Because
of this difference, European national privacy regulators have realized that
once data crosses into the US, it will not be subject to the same level of
protective measures as it would be in Europe. They fear that their citizen’s
personal data could be too easily accessed by American intelligence agencies. These
differences are part of the main reason that European privacy watchdogs are
calling for a renegotiation of the Privacy Shield.
Another important point in the
article is the extent of legal issues that companies could face for breaching
either country’s data sharing laws. American companies such as Google,
Facebook, and Amazon may be subjected to lengthy lawsuits on a
country-by-country basis in Europe. Additionally, these companies will be
subjected to fines of up to 4% of their global revenues if they are found in
breach of any privacy laws within Europe. The penalties for breaching the
privacy laws are immense and companies will have to be especially careful to abide
by them.
Lastly, the article points out the
large extent to which companies utilize customer data and will be impacted by
new regulations. These companies depend on the easy transportation of data
overseas to be able to conduct services such as online advertising. American
companies like Facebook and Microsoft will be largely impacted by the new
regulations of the Privacy Shield and will likely have to change the way they
conduct their businesses. The European privacy regulators will scrutinize them
in order to assure their compliance.
Something that I wish the article
went more into depth about is the terms of the current Privacy Shield. The
article could also be more specific about the types of data and privacy controls
that Europe has in place that the US does not. Lastly, it would be interesting
to know more about how the strict scrutiny of European privacy regulators will
affect how American businesses are conducted within those regions.
I found this article very interesting because it seems as though it is making it clear that American privacy standards are drastically different than European standards, especially in regards customers data. I think it is important to note that they refer to some specific American companies such as Google, and Facebook, and explain that they do not meet European data privacy standards. I think that if a companies' privacy policies are accepted within the country that it has originated from, then it should be not scrutinized. These American businesses should not have to abide by different countries' standards because then someone would always be left unhappy. It is surprising that American companies will be facing law suits and potential revenue losses because of an outside nations' privacy standards. I am very intrigued to see what happens with the pact between these two countries.
ReplyDeleteEmily made some great points about what is missing from the article. The EU-US Privacy Shield is defined by it's purpose, but not explained in-depth about the details behind what Europe is asking of the United States government. They are clearly hesitant of the idea of sharing their citizen's personal data overseas due to the lack of security the United States has on personal data. Personally, I think the United States needs to strengthen the security on personal data instead of having it extremely accessible by various parties. I also am curious about how American businesses will conduct their interactions with overseas customers such as with Amazon. People from all around the world purchase products from Amazon, and if the European government wants to restrict the flow of personal data to American based companies, it will drastically change the dynamic of the revenues and inventory. I completely understand the need for data privacy with the growing concerns around terrorism and hacking government files, but to place lawsuits against American companies who already have a presence within Europe is alarming. There should be a middle ground on the sharing of data between Europe and America, but I believe there are many aspects that need to be discussed in order to fulfill both sides wants and to protect international businesses regardless of their home based locations.
ReplyDeleteEmily made some great points about what is missing from the article. The EU-US Privacy Shield is defined by it's purpose, but not explained in-depth about the details behind what Europe is asking of the United States government. They are clearly hesitant of the idea of sharing their citizen's personal data overseas due to the lack of security the United States has on personal data. Personally, I think the United States needs to strengthen the security on personal data instead of having it extremely accessible by various parties. I also am curious about how American businesses will conduct their interactions with overseas customers such as with Amazon. People from all around the world purchase products from Amazon, and if the European government wants to restrict the flow of personal data to American based companies, it will drastically change the dynamic of the revenues and inventory. I completely understand the need for data privacy with the growing concerns around terrorism and hacking government files, but to place lawsuits against American companies who already have a presence within Europe is alarming. There should be a middle ground on the sharing of data between Europe and America, but I believe there are many aspects that need to be discussed in order to fulfill both sides wants and to protect international businesses regardless of their home based locations.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting article and I agree with Emily on the points that the article did not mention. Knowing how severe these rules and punishments are could have an affect on the way people view them. Having this "pact" be ruled invalid can have a severe impact on some major companies, and lawsuits can be filed on the grounds of things that were considered normal business activities just months earlier. Having this punishment of a 4 percent fine of company revenue seems a bit extreme. With the different topics brought up in this article it is hard to see the positive behind this change. Making companies change their way of doing business such as Facebook and Microsoft, two companies that have established themselves and their business model over many years, this change will not come naturally, most likely it will hurt the company by slowing productivity and ultimately leading to lower revenue. However, according to this Privacy Shield, as long as the companies are in compliance with the European privacy regulators, they are satisfied. It is true that the privacy of the consumer should always come first, but the US has its own style of protection and once data comes into the US, the rules behind the use of that data should be up to the US, the country the data is in.
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