REGULATORY: EC Debates Safe Harbor Pact
AFTER THE European Parliament refused to endorse the Safe Harbor agreement, citing a lack of U.S. laws to protect the privacy of personal information, a debate was under way to reopen negotiations with the United States. The 626-member Parliament’s rejection of the agreement is not binding on the European Commission (EC), which could either dismiss the request or endorse the pact as written. The EC has asked the European Union (EU) to decide whether negotations should be reopened. Whatever the outcome, the free flow of personal data between Europe and the United States will continue unimpeded, an EC spokesman says. Alastair Tempest, director general of the Federation of European Direct Marketing Associations, calls the Parliament’s action a “major setback for a common approach to data privacy.” The Safe Harbor provision, which the EU ratified in May, permits participating U.S. DMers, list firms and others to obtain, use and disseminate a European consumer’s personal data for marketing purposes after obtaining that individual’s written permission. The historic data protection agreement took some two years for the United States and the EC to negotiate. It generally received a positive reception on both sides of the Atlantic.
