Saturday, December 19, 2009

U.S. Safe Harbor

Welcome to the Safe Harbor

Announcement: Across the Divide: Successfully Navigating Safe Harbor --
The 2009 Conference on Cross Border Data Flows, Data Protection and Privacy

What: 2009 International Conference on Cross Border Data Flows, & Privacy

When: November 16-18, 2009

Where: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center,

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Conference Website and Registration

Organized by: United States Department of Commerce with the participation and cooperation of the European Commission and the Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection

Since 2005, the United States, the European Commission and the Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection have convened annually to review the progress made on the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework and examine the latest developments in compliance, data protection and privacy that have occurred nationally, regionally and globally. This year’s conference continues the commitment between the United States and the European Union regarding the agreement concluded in 2000 on transfers of personal data from the European Union to the United States for commercial purposes. The EU’s Data Protection Directive, implemented in 1998, provides member states with the authority to block such transfers to countries whose privacy enforcement regime does not meet the directive’s requirements. Under the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework, the United States received an “adequacy” determination from the European Commission limited to those U.S. organizations that self-certified to Safe Harbor which allows data transfers to take place without prior approval.

This year’s conference will examine the progress that the Framework has made, review the changes made to the process for approving binding corporate rules, look at new paradigms for privacy compliance, and address the role information security plays in data protection and privacy. Other themes to be considered include: Cross border data sharing during pandemics, privacy by design, strategic information management for the enterprise, social network service providers and behavioral advertising in cloud computing, global privacy standards, and electronic discovery in civil litigation. Do regulatory frameworks built during the mainframe era need retooling in light of technology advancement? Attend the conference and hear from the leading experts in the field present their views on the evolution of the privacy and data protection.

The most recent exchange occurred in Brussels, Belgium, October 20-21, 2008 at the Commission’s headquarters. At the conference’s conclusion the United States invited the European Commission to continue the conversation with another conference in the United States in 2009.

For further information, contact:

Damon Greer at +1-202-482-5023;

Fax: +1-202-482-5522;

email: damon.greer@mail.doc.gov or

David Ritchie at: +1-202-482-4936

david.ritchie@mail.doc.gov.

Introduction:

The European Commission’s Directive on Data Protection went into effect in October of 1998, and would prohibit the transfer of personal data to non-European Union nations that do not meet the European “adequacy” standard for privacy protection. While the United States and the European Union share the goal of enhancing privacy protection for their citizens, the United States takes a different approach to privacy from that taken by the European Union.

In order to bridge these different privacy approaches and provide a streamlined means for U.S. organizations to comply with the Directive, the U.S. Department of Commerce in consultation with the European Commission developed a "Safe Harbor" framework and this website to provide the information an organization should need to evaluate – and then join – the Safe Harbor.

U.S. – European Union Safe Harbor Framework

U.S. - Switzerland Safe Harbor Framework

To get started, use the following links:


U.S. – European Union Safe Harbor

The European Commission’s Directive on Data Protection went into effect in October of 1998, and would prohibit the transfer of personal data to non-European Union nations that do not meet the European “adequacy” standard for privacy protection. While the United States and the European Union share the goal of enhancing privacy protection for their citizens, the United States takes a different approach to privacy from that taken by the European Union.

In order to bridge these different privacy approaches and provide a streamlined means for U.S. organizations to comply with the Directive, the U.S. Department of Commerce in consultation with the European Commission developed a "Safe Harbor" framework and this website to provide the information an organization should need to evaluate – and then join – the Safe Harbor.

To get started, use the following two links:


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