The Dutch Datacenter Association, an industry group covering the datacentre industry, has voiced its opposition to the Privacy Shield – the proposed replacement for the EU’s ‘safe harbour’ agreement with the US.
Last October the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the transfer of personal data from Europe to the United States made under the US Safe Harbor scheme were invalid as those transfers did not ensure an adequate level of protection under European data protection law. The proposed new EU-US Privacy Shield is a new agreement reached between the EU and US and we are currently in a transition period prior to its the implementation.
The Dutch lobby group – comprising some of the biggest names in the industry – said it backs the position of the Article 29 Working Party, a regulatory group that consists of data protection officials from all EU member states. The Working Party earlier criticised the Privacy Shield proposal, saying it does not adequately secure the privacy of European data and may expose EU residents to mass surveillance by US intelligence services.
“The Netherlands thrives on international trade and logistics. With its many data centres, the nation is an important landing and distribution point for the data of numerous US firms,” said Stijn Grove, managing director of the Dutch Datacenter Association. “Confidence, through sound agreements and frameworks on how we deal with data and specific personal information, forms the basis for trade and transit. Agreements on personal data are absolutely essential for this.” The DDA said it expects that the agreement can be amended in order to provide a better replacement for safe harbour.
