New security measures to protect EU data flows to the US

[Updated to include perspective from Stephen Cobb, ESET security researcher.]

Officials from the European Commission and the US have announced agreement on a new ‘Safe Harbor’ arrangement to maintain ‘transatlantic data flows’. Known as the EU-US Privacy Shield, the framework aspires to safeguard the ‘fundamental rights of Europeans’ with regard to data being transferred to the US.

However, as ESET security researcher Stephen Cobb points out, the new agreement already faces strong criticism, and potential legal challenges, from European privacy advocates. The original safe harbor agreement was declared ‘invalid’ in October of last year following a legal challenge arising from the secret US National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance that was revealed by Edward Snowden. The European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled that “the NSA’s indiscriminate overseas surveillance interfered with the ‘fundamental rights’ of its citizens” (The Intercept).

New security measures to protect EU data flows to the US