back to article United States, you have 2 months to sort Privacy Shield ... or data deal is for the bin – Eurocrats

The Privacy Shield agreement – which governs the flow of personal data between America and Europe – should be suspended if the US doesn't comply by 1 September, the European Parliament has said. At the plenary session of the European Parliament today, MEPs voted 303 to 223 in favour of a resolution that criticises the US and …

  1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    We know what comes next...

    "Can we have a moratorium?"

    1. hplasm
      Devil

      Re: We know what comes next...

      "Can we have a moratorium?"

      No.

    2. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
      Childcatcher

      Re: We know what comes next...

      Trump could well tweet something like...

      "All that European Data is a threat to National Security. As a result I have ordered the NSA to block all traffic from Europe starting at midnight."

      1. Phil 54

        Re: We know what comes next...

        "I have emailed my European ambassador to confirm that the block is working but strangely haven't yet received a reply"

      2. Nattrash
        Childcatcher

        Re: We know what comes next...

        FTFY

        "European Data is bad. Very bad. But I'm a good guy. Great guy. So I've asked the good people of NSA to grab those bad Europeans by the pussy. because they're very bad! I'm sure that's a good deal for the US. The best deal any US president ever did!"

  2. sandman

    whoo hoo!

    Oh, deep joy, no sooner than I pump out our corporate data legislation training I'll probably have to do it again and in a few months time, probably again. Oh and a few months after that...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: whoo hoo!

      Alternatively you could just train people in GDPR compliance, with maybe a footnote that there are these fudges that might cover their arses for a few more years while they sort themselves out, but be prepared to have to rearrange the deckchairs every so often if you go down that route.

    2. eldakka

      Re: whoo hoo!

      Oh, deep joy, no sooner than I pump out our corporate data legislation training I'll probably have to do it again and in a few months time, probably again. Oh and a few months after that...

      Sounds like guaranteed employment to me.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If it hits America financially I fully expect heir Trump to start a war.

    1. MiguelC Silver badge

      You meant Herr Drumpf, surely ;)

    2. Mike 16

      If it hits America financially

      Only if it hits the Trump (extended) family, Russian Oligarchs, or some Saudi Princes. America has a variety of people, and businesses, but the ones not on the most-favored list can hold their breaths until blue (or red) in the face and their concerns will not be addressed.

      Note that the businesses most likely to take a financial hit are on a very different list. Except maybe Palantir.

    3. JohnFen

      I don't know -- it looks to me like Trump is itching to get us into a war somewhere, anywhere, regardless.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Canada with their shifty beady eyes and apologising, they are to blame. Nice easy land war.

        1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

          Nice easy land war.

          .. that the US has lost every time they tried..

      2. Smoking Man

        He is.

        And the very 1st country he sends the marines to, will be WTO.

        'Cause those folks hurt U.S. businesses. Very bad, so sad.

    4. DavCrav

      "heir Trump"

      You misspelled 'dickhead'.

      1. The Nazz

        re Dav Crav

        "you misspelled "dickhead""

        Aw, that's not a nice thing to say about someone's username.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I thought Trump was Russian, not German. Oh, and it's spelled "Herr" not "heir." Proper spelling makes cheap insults look a little less cheap. ;-/

      But hey, at least you didn't play the "Drumpf" card...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        My mistake, whose the bigger man. Hows that wall coming along?

  4. John G Imrie

    Privacy Shield

    Shielding the US from dealing with European's privacy.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Privacy Shield

      Privacy Shield 'on both sides' is a way to avoid real responsibility. The joke is on us! When it suits Germany, France, UK they shit all over EU users privacy in backroom bilateral US data exchanges...

      --------------

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36148107

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32529277

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/01/german_spying_allegations_eu_commish_says_its_on_the_ball/

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/07/germany_curtails_nsa_snoop_assistance/

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/13/wikileaks_bundestag_nsa_probe_files/

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/04/germany_bnd_muscles_in_on_metadata_mass_surveillance/

    2. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Stop

      Re: Privacy Shield

      keep in mind, U.S. law does not have to bow down to EU law. GDPR is a good idea in theory, but Con-Grab is going to have to legislate it. And NOBODY over here cares about "disobeying an EU law".

      If you want something from U.S. Law, give something in return... then let Con-grab legislate it. That's how things work.

      Here's a thought: what's the penalty for NON-compliance? whack our pee-pees ? take away our birthdays? Point fingers and make fun of us? Call Donald Trump 'Herr Drumpf" ??

      Yeah, do better, make a deal, see results.

      1. SImon Hobson Bronze badge

        Re: Privacy Shield

        U.S. law does not have to bow down to EU law

        Very true, and actually no-one is saying that it should - it is entirely a choice for the US government to make as to how it handles things.

        Basically it comes down to this :

        If you are based in the EU and hold/process personal information on any EU citizen or any person resident in the EU, then you have to abide by certain regulations. What's more, those regulations aren't actually very complicated. But a key thing is that you cannot transfer/store/process that personal data to anywhere where it is not adequately protected - and that still says nothing about US laws.

        What is does mean is that if the US decides not to create an environment compatible with EU GDPR, then that's fine - it's own choice - but the ramification is that it becomesstays illegal for any business with a presence in the EU to put such personal data anywhere "within reach" of any business with a US presence. It still does not say what the US must do about laws - just that if the US chooses not to be compatible then it cannot expect to get/retain the business.

        In a way there is the usual (and usually broken) analogy with cars. A US manufacturer is free to decide whether to make cars that comply with EU regulations - no one is forcing them to. The flip side is that if they do not, then they cannot sell cars into the EU.

        TL;DR - Basically, if you want to play in our playground then you have to play by our rules.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The US government is completely dysfunctional right now, so there is zero chance anything will get done in the next two months

    1. Mike Moyle

      "The US government is completely dysfunctional right now, so there is zero chance anything will get done in the next two months"

      Get Putin to request it when he and der Trumpster have their no-records-kept one-on-one in Helsinki and it'll be done instanter.

      1. Fungus Bob

        Newsflash!

        The US government has been completely dysfunctional for decades.

        1. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Devil

          Re: Newsflash!

          "The US government has been completely dysfunctional for decades."

          heh, not arguing THAT point! [I think Trump is trying to fix that, part of why he was elected].

          1. Teiwaz

            Re: Newsflash!

            I think Trump is trying to fix that, part of why he was elected

            Nope, part of why trump was elected will be fixed. Thankfully for the established parties, he's mostly innocuous apart from embarrassing twitter rants.

    2. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: Next Two Months?

      How about until after the US Mid Terms are done and dusted?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    data flows should be suspended if the US doesn't comply

    or else the EU will write a very, very, VERY angry letter!

    Trump: THEY RIP US OFF ALLTHETIME, STEAL OU DATA, BREAK INTO WALMART, ALL KINDOF BAD, BAD THINGS!!!

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    unfortunately...

    The EU have no guts to get involved in any serious scuffle, let alone with our (their) (ex)protector. They are already shitting themselves about the looming trade war with US (but hey, UK is safe, non?! ;) never mind puffing and huffing, so this is just an empty threat, sorry.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: unfortunately...

      you can downvote me all you want, but if you were honest, you'd come back to this thread/threat in 2 months time to see what the EU will have done about it. I bet it will have been - nothing.

    2. Paul Crawford Silver badge

      Re: unfortunately...

      You seem to make the common mistake of thinking of the EU as a single body.

      The EU commission is largely made of gov wonks and tend to do the same sort of shady back-room deals that most governments do, but at least their masters can join the tabloids in blaming the "Evil EU" for making them do what they were lobbying for in the background anyway. Just like the UK gov and the telco data retention directive, for example. These are the ones trying to put a plaster on the current EU-US deal.

      Then you have the MEPs who actually do a public debate and (mostly) democratic vote as they don't have much of a party-political goal scoring agenda like most lower houses. These are the ones who seem to be standing up for individual rights, just a shame our own MPs seem to care for none of it.

      It would be even better had we (the UK) not voted in wasters like Farage who, whether you are pro-EU or anti-EU, did SFA to help any UK interest in any debates or votes.

  8. Nick Ryan Silver badge

    Privacy Shield was worthless from the start, just like Safe Harbor (was). Until data rights become a legal obligation and not a voluntary agreement with no real enforcement potential then there can't be any data protection equivalency.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Competent...

    From the resolution:

    > ... the Commission and the competent US authorities ...

    That's the problem right there. The "competent" US authorities for this don't exist.

    1. Fungus Bob

      Re: Competent...

      Sure they do. They're in Narnia next to the talking beavers.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Funny that ..

    .. I was just telling our shiny new in-house lawyer that the reason I was restructuring certain things in the organisation was because I fully expected Privacy Shield to fail, not because of recent events, but because it was just as much a non-fix from a legal perspective that it must have been a political stopgap to prevent a trade war - and we all know what Trump is starting right now.

    That said, I wasn't quite expected to be proven right on the same day, I thought we had a few more months.

    Oh well, hello overtime budget :)

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