EU privacy body raises concerns about possible U.S. data transfer pact

The European Union data protection watchdog on Tuesday expressed concerns about a European Commission draft decision that could pave the way for a new data transfer pact with the United States, saying more should be done to protect Europeans’ privacy rights.

The European Data Protection Board’s (EDPB) non-binding opinion comes after the Commission issued a draft decision in December saying U.S. safeguards against American intelligence activities were strong enough to address EU data privacy concerns.

The EDPB said its worries centre on certain rights of data subjects, onward transfers, the scope of exemptions, temporary bulk collection of data and the practical functioning of the redress mechanism.