US unwilling to reopen Privacy Shield negotiations

The US is reluctant to reopen negotiations on the Privacy Shield Agreement. The consultative body of European privacy regulators, the Article 29 Working Group, had recently identified some deficiencies, which may require new negotiations.

Reuters news agency attributes this information to a high-ranking US government official. The US government recently responded to the Article 29 Working Group’s findings by stating that they would be reviewed. However, a spokesperson also emphasized at the time that caution should be exercised, because there is a risk that all the work that led to the final text will be undone.

A week ago, the Article 29 Working Group identified some key criticisms of the negotiated Privacy Shield Agreement. For example, the text would still leave room for the bulk collection of data from European citizens. This is possible in certain exceptions, but according to the working group these are formulated too vaguely, which could mean that they could be abused.

Furthermore, the final text would be too complex and would not make clear how citizens can enforce their rights. The independence of the proposed Ombudsman was also called into question. Although the advice of the working group is not binding, it does send an important signal. Therefore, the European Union could renegotiate certain aspects of the agreement to remedy the deficiencies.