EU-US Privacy Shield Update

In recent days, there has been an uptick in discussion regarding the potential fate of the EU-US Privacy Shield. Some of the discussion has been spurred by Cam Kerry’s recent analysis of several critical weaknesses of the EU-US Privacy Shield, which is now under review by the European Commission. The other impetus for discussion is via the Article 29 WP, which has issued a new press release June 13 with more details about its review of the Privacy Shield agreement, as well as fresh concerns.

This February, WPF published an in-depth legal analysis of the EU-US Privacy Shield, which concluded that it was highly likely that the agreement was fatally undermined by a Trump Administration executive order. Of course, the analysis that will matter the most will be that which the Europeans publish at the conclusion of their review, which is slated for September 2017.

Here is a roundup of Cam Kerry’s analysis, our analysis, and more information about the EU review and the Privacy Shield:

Lawfare: Trump Puts EU US Privacy Shield at Risk, Cam Kerry, published June 12, 2017

World Privacy Forum: Redress Revisited: Has the Privacy Shield Agreement Between the U.S. and the EU Been Fatally Undermined by President Trump’s Executive Order 13768? Robert Gellman, published February 24, 2017.

World Privacy Forum: EU-US Privacy Shield, Winners and Losers Robert Gellman and Pam Dixon, published April 6, 2016.

Article 29 WP: Preparation of the Privacy Shield Annual Joint Review, June 13, 2017.

European Commission: Statement by Commissioner Vera Jourova of the European Parliament consent vote on the conclusion of the EU-US data protection Umbrella Agreement”, January 12, 2016.

European Commission: Restoring trust in transatlantic data flows through strong safeguards: European Commission presents EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, February 29, 2016.

IAPP: We read Privacy Shield so you don’t have to, (open access) and IAPP Resource Center, EU US Privacy Shield, varied dates (membership required).

Posted June 13, 2017 in Article 29 Working Party, EU - US Privacy Shield, Privacy Act of 1974

New Report: Risky Analysis: Assessing and Improving AI Governance Tools

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new WPF report, “Risky Analysis: Assessing and Improving AI Governance Tools.” This report sets out a definition of AI governance tools, documents why and how these tools are critically important for trustworthy AI, and where these tools are around the world. The report also documents problems in some AI governance tools themselves, and suggests pathways to improve AI governance tools and create an evaluative environment to measure their effectiveness. AI systems should not be deployed without simultaneously evaluating the potential adverse impacts of such systems and mitigating their risks, and most of the world agrees about the need to take precautions against the threats posed. The specific tools and techniques that exist to evaluate and measure AI systems for their inclusiveness, fairness, explainability, privacy, safety and other trustworthiness issues — called in the report collectively AI governance tools – can improve such issues. While some AI governance tools provide reassurance to the public and to regulators, the tools too often lack meaningful oversight and quality assessments. Incomplete or ineffective AI governance tools can create a false sense of confidence, cause unintended problems, and generally undermine the promise of AI systems. The report contains rich background details, use cases, potential solutions to the problems discussed in the report, and a global index of AI Governance Tools.
National IDs Around the World — Interactive map

About this Data Visualization: This interactive map displays the presence...
Report: From the Filing Cabinet to the Cloud: Updating the Privacy Act of 1974

This comprehensive report and proposed bill text is focused on the Privacy Act of 1974, an important and early Federal privacy law that applies to the government sector and some contractors. The Privacy Act was written for the 1970s information era -- an era that was characterized by the use of mainframe computers and filing cabinets. Today's digital information era looks much different than the '70s: smart phones are smarter than the old mainframes, and documents are now routinely digitized and stored and perhaps even analyzed in the cloud, among many other changes. The report focuses on why the Privacy Act needs an update that will bring it into this century, and how that could look and work. This work was written by Robert Gellman, and informed by a two-year multi-stakeholder process.