A new international consumer group coalition has urged the European Union (EU) to reject the safe harbor principles proposed by the US Department of Commerce last November to help US companies meet the requirements of the EU’s data privacy directive, which came into effect a month earlier.
The Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) alliance, which had its first meeting over the weekend, says the principles fail to provide adequate privacy protection for consumers in the US and Europe, and unfairly requires European citizens to sacrifice their legal right(s). The TACD, whose more than 100 members include Consumer Federation of America and the European Consumers’ Organization, calls instead for the creation and adoption of an international convention on privacy protection to safeguard consumer interests. The TACD said it has submitted its resolution to the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, and expects an official response soon.
The EU directive on data protection bans the transfer of personal data to any country that does not afford that data an adequate level of protection. The US is one such country, in the eyes of the EU. Representatives from the US International Trade Administration within the DoC and Directorate General XV of the European Commission have been trying to arrive at a compromise for months that would allow US firms to be the recipients of data from the EU, but no agreement has yet been reached.
Both sides said last week that considerable progress had been made over the course of a number of meetings and published additional comments to the original proposals, but the EU still expressed concern in some areas. Both sides say they are aiming to arrive at a resolution before the US/EU Summit in Germany on June 21 (04/15/99).
