Helen Dixon believes decision should be taken at the highest level,Friction ,Facebook,Privacy ,cloud computing
IRELAND’S DATA PROTECTION COMMISSIONER Helen Dixon is looking to refer Facebook’s use of the «model contract clauses» mechanism for transferring personal data from the EU to the US to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Dixon believes that the decision over the validity of model contract clauses should be taken at the highest level and that complaints made against the mechanism are «well founded» .
Model contract clauses are a standardised form of document that, once approved by the European Commission (EC), allow companies to transfer data without further reference to the authorities. For many years they have been the preferred legal mechanism for US companies seeking to transfer personal data out of the EU.
Privacy Shield, which replaced the now defunct Safe Harbour arrangement after the latter was deemed unfit for purpose, stipulates that for personal data to be transferred out of the EU, data protection measures in the destination jurisdiction should be broadly equivalent to the EU’s own, something that many lawyers argue is not the case with the USA.
