The Hacked World Order: How Nations Fight, Trade, Maneuver, and Manipulate in the Digital Age by Adam Segal

Author:Adam Segal [Segal, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw, mobi
ISBN: 9781610394161
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2016-02-23T08:00:00+00:00

REVISING THE DATA PROTECTION DIRECTIVE

The biggest shift in the marketplace could result from the revisions to the EU Data Protection Directive. The original directive went into effect in 1995 and mandated that every member of the European Union create national privacy regulations and a Data Protection Authority to protect citizens’ privacy. The directive requires that companies ask for permission before they gather private information and gives users the right to review the data and correct inaccuracies. Companies cannot share personal information with each other or across borders without express permission from users. Any company that collects information must register its activities with the government.

The rapid expansion of digital technologies and a growing patchwork of national regulations meant the directive needed updating. The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, has estimated that the revisions could save businesses throughout Europe €2.3 billion by creating a simple standard. This would also dovetail with a larger effort to create a digital single market across the European Union, which would include standardization of copyright protections, simplification of e-commerce, and a boost in skills and education.

A draft of proposed revisions, published by the European Commission in January 2012, has become the most lobbied piece of European legislation in history, receiving over 4,000 comments. The draft introduced new controls on what companies could do with data and new limits on how long they could keep it, along with new tools for individuals to control how their information can be used. It also introduced portability—users will be able to move their data from one site to another. And it offered eye-popping fines for transgressing companies: up to 5 percent of annual worldwide revenue, or €100 million, whichever is greater.34

The revision of the directive took place at the same time as some in Europe were questioning the continued viability of the Safe Harbor agreement. Safe Harbor, developed by the Department of Commerce and the European Commission in 2000, allows US firms to repatriate data as long as they subscribe to and follow European principles. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can investigate and fine companies that fail in their responsibilities. In 2011, for example, the FTC reached an agreement with Facebook that prohibited the company from overriding privacy preferences without user consent, along with other actions, and established a twenty-year process of independent third-party auditing of privacy policies.

Despite periodic complaints about US companies violating privacy promises and a perceived lack of stringency in FTC enforcement, the agreement generally worked. In the wake of the Snowden disclosures, however, Europe threatened to suspend Safe Harbor. EU vice president Viviane Reding announced a full review of Safe Harbor, calling PRISM a “wake-up call.” In her statement, Reding concluded that Safe Harbor “may not be so safe after all,” which seemed both a description and a threat.35

In November 2013, the European Union sent a list of thirteen demands that the United States needed to meet to keep the agreement in place. At the time, more than 3,500 US companies and European companies with

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.