AITC December News Flash - Viviane Reding, Vice‐President of the European Commission and the European Union (EU) Justice Commissioner, spoke on the future cooperation with the United States at the 2nd Annual European Data Protection and Privacy Conference in Brussels on December 6. She confirmed that collection and storage of personal information are essential in a globalized world, the transfer of data to third countries has become an important factor. The EU needs to facilitate these exchanges if we are to »encourage innovation and stimulate growth«. She wants to introduce one data protection law in Europe and have one single data protection authority. »This is why I will propose a new European law on data protection next month. It will replace the law from 1995, when
the full potential of the internet had not yet been realized.« »People are sharing more and more personal information online. For this reason, the reform of EU data protection rules will include easier access to one's data, and better data portability so that it is simple for (database) users to transfer their data between providers.« Reding said. She has decided that solid rules are good for internet companies, because they create legal certainty. In that
respect, clear rules are also needed for the transfer of data outside the EU, she continued. Ms. Reding welcomed the US Democrat‐Republican joint initiative on data protection and the introduction into Congress of a draft Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights. The US government had a substantial interest in creating a level playing field for all collectors of personal data both in the US and abroad. She concluded that the EU and US »need to make sure that future developments in data
protection enhance this trust ・ based on firm legal grounds on both sides of the Atlantic«. According to IT experts, all internet users in EU shall be aware, the new law will legalize your personal data and online activities to be widely surveyed, extracted and stored in a centralized EU‐wide database(s).
Moreover, the reform will legalize routine transfers of your data to the US agencies for their further use.
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