The European data protection authorities assembled in the Article 29 Working Party reported yesterday that, following the invalidation of the Safe Harbor agreement, a first round of discussions between experts has been organised this week in Brussels, with an extraordinary plenary meeting of the Working Party due to be scheduled shortly.
The Working Party welcomed the fact that the Court's decision to invalidate the agreement in the Maximilian Schrems v Data Protection Commissioner ruling reaffirmed the important of data protection rights, citing them in a statement issued yesterday as "an inherent part of the EU fundamental rights regime".
The EU data protection authorities comprising the Article 29 Working Party, an independent advisory body, also alluded to the Court's conclusion that the power of data protection authorities were not reduced by the existence of the Safe Harbor decision made by the Commission, and that consequently data protection authorities, in their capacity outlined in Article 28 of Directive 95/46, must always have the possibility to wholly and independently investigate a complaint comprimising the adequate level of protection of the personal data transferred.
The Working Party has been studying the impact of mass surveillance on international transfers for several years now, having on several occasions presented its concerns. The Court's judgement yesterday confirmed for the Working Party that the existence of mass surveillance and the absence of possibility for an individual to pursue legal remedies in order to have access to rectification or erasure, instigated serious questions regarding the continuity of the level of data protection when data are transferred to the US.
The Working Party then stated that it was fully aware of the "major consequences on all stakeholders" that this decision had created, explaining that it was to determine these consequences and to provide a coordinated analysis of the Court's decision that expert discussion would soon begin in Brussels, as well as the extraordinary plenary meeting of the Working Party.
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