APR 02, 2020 | EUROPEAN UNION
European Commission Solicits Feedback on GDPR’s Efficiency
Inside US Trade, April 2, 2020
By Isabelle Isco
The European Commission plans to assess the effectiveness of its General Data Protection Regulation, which came into force in May 2018, by asking for input to inform a report set to be released next month.
The GDPR is designed to ease intra-EU data flows and third-party compliance with the bloc’s rules. The framework contains principles required for the European Commission to determine that an adequate level of data protection exists for companies based in third countries; it also harmonizes personal data protection regulations across all 28 EU member states.
The US has called the bloc’s approach to data protection overly restrictive and innovation-stifling. The two sides are addressing this divergence in approaches to privacy and cross-border data flows in the World Trade Organization’s plurilateral talks on e-commerce, which began last year.
“The Commission will report on the application of the General Data Protection Regulation, two years after its entry into application,” the Commission said in an April 1 press release. “It will include the issue of international transfer of personal data to third countries and the cooperation and consistency mechanism between national data protection authorities.”
Comments are due by April 29, the release states.
Isabelle Roccia, senior policy manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at BSA | The Software Alliance, said the EU must assess whether the GDPR has worked as intended.
“The GDPR is one of the most advanced and widely accepted versions of privacy law globally,” she said in a statement to Inside US Trade this week. “As the Commission conducts its GDPR review, it will be important to assess if GDPR worked as intended to successfully harmonize data protection laws throughout the EU and beyond for two reasons: First, so that consumers know and trust what privacy controls they have, regardless of where they are in the EU; and second, so that businesses know what their obligations are, which improves the EU single market.”
Additionally, as the GDPR review progresses, it will be imperative to “strengthen data flows mechanisms that are currently under threat in European Courts,” Roccia continued. “It is critical to ensure the continuity of GDPR transfer tools so that businesses can continue to protect personal data, innovate, and responsibly service customers globally.”
BSA | The Software Alliance, which bills itself as the leading advocate for the global software industry, is calling on countries around the world to use all “mechanisms and fora at their disposal to reach convergence on privacy,” she added, pointing to the G7, G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
“[W]hether that’s through the G7, the G20, APEC, bespoke agreements such as the EU-US Privacy Shield, or through free trade agreements. Privacy laws don’t have to be identical, but they do need to be interoperable. This makes it easier for privacy systems to work together, which is essential in today’s global economy,” Roccia concluded.
Original Posting: https://insidetrade.com/share/168529
BSA 소개
소프트웨어 연합(BSA | The Software Alliance, 이하 BSA)(www.bsa.org)은 각국 정부를 대상으로 세계 시장에서 전 세계 소프트웨어 업계를 대변하고 옹호하는 선도적 연합체입니다. 세계의 가장 혁신적 기업들이 회원사로 참여하며 경제에 활기를 불어 넣고 현대의 생활을 향상시키는 소프트웨어 솔루션을 만들어 내고 있습니다.
워싱턴 DC에 본부를 두고, 30개국이 넘는 국가들에서 운영되는 BSA는, 합법적 소프트웨어 사용을 증진시키고 기술 혁신을 촉진하며 디지털 경제의 성장을 추진하는 공공 정책을 지지하는 준법 프로그램들을 선도합니다.