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Privacy advocates railed Monday after the European Union unveiled a 128-page framework for trans-Atlantic data transfers that, the advocates said, amounts to little more than “10 layers of lipstick on a pig.” The document outlines the specifics of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which replaces the 15-year-old Safe Harbor agreement struck down in October in a case that pitted Austrian grad student Max Schrems against Facebook ( FB ). Schrems alleged Facebook misused Europeans’ data in cooperation with a National Security Agency program. Facebook has denied the allegation. U.S. spying tactics fell under scrutiny in 2013 after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden released thousands of classified documents allegedly detailing mass surveillance by the government. Amazon, Alphabet Continue Transfers The Privacy Shield, approved verbally in early February, requires the U.S. to abide by notoriously strict European privacy laws while handling data belonging to any of the region’s 500 million citizens. On Monday, the EU released the actual documents that lift tech giants Amazon ( AMZN ), Google parent Alphabet ( GOOGL ) and Facebook from the legal limbo of transporting data across the Atlantic, prompting the European outcry. Under the new framework, the U.S. intelligence community won’t be making any compromises: The U.S. can continue “bulk” intelligence collection for six specific purposes — namely, detecting and countering certain activities of foreign powers, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, cybersecurity, detecting and countering threats to the U.S. and allied armed forces, and combating transnational criminal threats. The framework also creates a new ombudsman under the U.S. State Department to deal with complaints by European citizens of how the U.S. handles their data. Reuters reported Catherine Novelli, undersecretary of State for economic growth, energy and the environment, has been tapped for the position. U.S. companies must reply to complaints within 45 days, and alternative dispute resolution will be offered free of charge. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission will police the process. Firms must self-certify under the requirements and alter their privacy policies to reflect as much. The European Commission and Department of Commerce will jointly review the framework on an annual basis. Privacy Advocates Oppose Guidelines EU Commissioner Vera Jourova applauded the U.S. in a statement for handing over “binding assurances” that access to European citizens’ data will be “subject to clear limitations, safeguards and oversight mechanisms.” The framework is still pending approval by the Article 29 Working Party, through which the data protection authorities collaborate, and preparations by the U.S. to put the guidelines in place. Schrems, and other privacy advocates, called the framework flimsy. “They tried to put 10 layers of lipstick on a pig, but I doubt the court and the (data protection authorities) now suddenly want to cuddle with it,” he said in a statement Monday. Privacy is considered a basic human right in Europe, where the “right to be forgotten” has been codified. U.S. surveillance, in six circumstances, violates these rights, Schrems argued. Sophia in ’t Veld , vice chairwoman of the group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, questioned Novelli’s reported appointment to the ombudsman role, asserting that the ombudsman is meant to be independent of the U.S. government. The “‘ombudsman,’ incidentally, will be (an) official of U.S. government. How does that qualify as ‘independent’ scrutiny?” In ‘t Veld tweeted early Monday. She also doubted whether “written assurances, ombudsman and patchy judicial redress rights” would meet the standards set by Europe’s Court of Justice when it invalidated the Safe Harbor accord in October. Scalper1 News
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