U.S. Senate has reportedly delayed the legislation that would grant U.S. private rights to Europeans, sources revealed on Wednesday. This deferral may complicate negotiations over the completion of broader trans-Atlantic data transfer pact set for a January deadline.
Up until recently, data transmissions fell under the law known as "Safe Harbor" which enables easy process for governed data transfers. More than 4,000 firms, including tech behemoths such as Google and IBM, have been relying on the 15-year-old Safe Harbor framework to freely transfer data between the United States and Europe, The Guardian reports.
However "Safe Harbor" was recently struck down after security issues were revealed by ex-contractor for the National Security Agency, Edward Snowden. After the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled the deal invalid, citing Snowden's revelations about U.S. mass surveillance, the law has been thrown out of the picture. Thereafter, the introduction of the "Judicial Redress Act" was made addressing the stricter terms of data protection laws in Europe. Reportedly, this legislation will allow Europeans to sue for data security breaches and privacy concerns over in the U.S.
European Union officials have purportedly given an ultimatum to get the framework ironed out by the end of January, however, a panel insider disclosed that it will "likely to be held" from a scheduled vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
To this, industry executives have purportedly voiced their concerns and warned of the "consequences" had the new Safe Harbor agreement not be completed in time. A spokesman for the Information Technology Industry Council, a Washington-based trade organization said that if a pact is not signed soon, some of the organization's leaders are bound to meet with government and data protection authorities in several cities, including Dublin, Amsterdam, Berlin and London, ahead of the deadline.
Reportedly, European Union privacy regulators are scheduled to meet on Feb. 2 if there is still no new framework in place. This meeting will also decide how to deal with companies violating privacy laws.
