Trans-Atlantic
data talks targeted by U.S. Republicans at 11th hour
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[January 28, 2016]
By Dustin Volz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S.
Senate Republican took a swipe on Wednesday at an effort to forge a new
deal on the movement of electronic data between the United States and
Europe, such as Facebook user information, but it was unclear if he had
jeopardized the unfinished pact.
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Seen as crucial to preserving the free flow of data across the
Atlantic, an issue for thousands of companies, the Safe Harbor
data-transfer agreement being negotiated in Brussels is days away
from an important deadline.
Amid growing concerns in Europe about spying by U.S. authorities on
Internet data, a previous agreement was invalidated in October 2015
by an EU court. The new agreement would replace that pact.
The U.S. Senate is debating related legislation, the Judicial
Redress Act, and Senator John Cornyn of Texas told Reuters in an
interview he would try to amend that legislation.
"I’m for doing what’s in America’s best interests, not necessarily
the interests of the European Union," said Cornyn, the Senate's No.
2 Republican.
“I’m going to make sure ... that we don’t just try to do something
to help them out and we don’t protect our interests.”
The Act would allow citizens of U.S. allies in Europe to sue over
data privacy in the United States. It will be considered on Thursday
in a Senate committee, an aide said.
It not seen as crucial to securing a new Safe Harbor deal, but its
passage would send a signal of good faith to negotiators in Brussels
as they scramble to meet a deadline, European officials and
technology trade groups said.
That message could be upended by amendments from Cornyn and
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. One would limit the ability
to sue in U.S. courts to citizens of countries already in an
international data deal with the United States, such as Safe Harbor,
sources familiar with the language said.
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Another possible amendment would require the U.S. attorney general
to certify that participating countries do not have policies that
impede U.S. national security.
Thousands of firms, such as Google and Microsoft, relied on the
15-year-old Safe Harbor for freely transferring trans-Atlantic data.
EU data protection authorities gave negotiators until the end of
January to strike a new deal before potentially moving forward with
lawsuits.
"Time is not on our side," Justin Antonipillai, a Commerce
Department official, said at a conference in Washington this week.
(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Grant McCool)
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