Deadline for new Safe Harbor arrangement expires without agreement

EU and US negotiators had until the end of January to agree on new rules to replace the invalidated Safe Harbor arrangement. The consultative body of the European privacy supervisors will meet on Tuesday to discuss the consequences.

In recent days, negotiators seemed optimistic about reaching an agreement, Reuters reported. However, the deadline of January 31 has passed, without a new arrangement having been agreed. EU and US negotiators had three months to find a replacement for the Safe Harbor arrangement, which was declared invalid by the European Court of Justice in October. The consequences of the expiry of the deadline are not yet clear, the consultative body of the European privacy supervisors, the Article 29 working group, has planned a meeting on Tuesday.

A possible consequence may be that the regulations on which organizations currently base the export of personal data may no longer be used. Details of a possible deal have been limited recently to information that the US had proposed a privacy ombudsman to handle complaints from Europeans about US data collection. An American law was also postponed, which would offer Europeans equal rights as Americans under the applicable privacy law. The lack of a legal framework for exporting personal data can have major consequences for US companies.