Data flows in TTIP
Data flows in TTIP
The negotiations between the U.S. and the EU on the Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will address e-commerce and
transatlantic data flows. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) is
concerned that including data flows will result in a significant
weakening of consumers’ fundamental rights to privacy and to the
protection of personal data. It is impossible to address these issues
when the data protection regimes in the US and EU are starkly
different.
Negotiators’ claims that TTIP will not touch upon issues of privacy
or data protection have not been substantiated. Data flows by definition
include the flow of personal data. This is even more the case in the
context of e-commerce, where a consumer’s personal data needs to be
processed to conclude an online sale.
There are currently no comprehensive data protection laws in the
United States. In order to transfer personal data to the US, American
companies voluntarily commit to apply European standards under the Safe Harbour Act.
This process is largely ineffective, as has been demonstrated by the
ongoing review of Safe Harbour. The EU and the US should discuss common
data privacy standards, but they should do so outside of the proposed
TTIP negotiations considering that the data protection regimes in the US
and EU are thoroughly different.
Factsheet available here
