On July 12, 2016, the United States and European Union member states formally adopted the Trans-Atlantic Privacy Shield, a data transfer mechanism aimed to provide strict and clear consumer privacy protections. This Privacy Shield replaces the 15-year-old Safe Harbor mechanism, which the EU Court of Justice invalidated in October, that multinational companies formerly relied on to ensure lawful cross-border data transfers. Notably, in an effort to address growing concerns over indiscriminate data handling and substandard enforcement under the Safe Harbor, the Privacy Shield places more robust requirements and limitations on U.S. companies with regard to redress, auditing, record keeping, disclosure requests, and general mass data collection and transfers of European citizens’ private information.
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