Transfer of Personal Data to a Third Country :: Safe Harbor Agreement Human Rights Essays

Transfer of Personal Data to a Third Country I. entrance1.) An old issue, growing in importanceSearching the web, one can see that privacy on the Internet is a bigissue. Countless US or EU based human rights initiatives are fightingfor the right to privacy. What is the reason for this?Although concerns about consumers ability to protect their privacyhave been in worldly concern for decades, the Internet makes the issue moredelicate Businesses have access to a larger audience, which allowsthem to collect more data from more people. Furthermore, collection ofmore ad hoc behavioural information is possible attaching cookies toa hard drive, reporting which websites someone enters.1 In addition,data collection and storage having become much easier, faster andcheaper, toll concerns do not limit data-collection practices.2At the same time, the market for information about consumers andconsumer behaviour is continuously growing, side by side with theexpansion of e-commerce.2.) interpret ation of the issuePrivacy can be defined as the right of the individual to be protectedagainst intrusion into his personal life or affairs, or those of hisfamily, by direct physical means or by publication of information.3This paper will focus pu commit on information privacy, also cognise asdata breastplate, which means the rules governing the collection andhandling of personal data such as a persons name, address, phonenumber, family status, social security measure or other identification numberor even medical, financial or government records. Data protectionconcerns the process of gathering, storing, analysis and distributionof personal data. Privacy issues can be divided into relations withthe public sector and with the private sector.4 In this paper, Iwill concentrate on the private sector, curiously relevant because ofthe growing importance of e-commerce.3.) Fundamentally different approaches in the US and the EUEurope and the US have very different approaches to data prot ectionand privacy. In 250 years, nations on each side of the Atlantic haveevolved their democracies into distinct forms of society and marketeconomy. Differences in culture, policies and society are theconsequence.a.) Government Interference vs. Self-RegulationAs discussed in seminar one, there is an ongoing dispute regarding theapproach in choosing an apt legal framework for the public andtransnational sphere of cyberspace Some scholars pauperization governments tointerfere as little as possible, others see the need for a unifiedlegal framework. It seems that, concerning the privacy issue, the EUhas chosen the latter option, by oblige a comprehensive, general lawgoverning the collection, use and dissemination of data by public andprivate sector, whose enforcement is assured by an oversight body. TheUS tends to rely on sectoral laws, and on self-regulation for the