Interviewed by Nathalie Steiwer and Loreline Merelle
Jeff Chester is director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), based in Washington, one of the leading American NGOs active in the field of consumer rights and protection of privacy. He also co-chairs the information society group in the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD).
You are preparing to launch a campaign against the inclusion of data flows in the trade agreement being negotiated by the EU and the United States (TTIP). Why?
American…
Background
Bank data, photos, e-mail addresses, medical information, online searches, etc: users' personal data circulate between Europe and the United States through social networks, cloud services, geo-location and e-commerce. In theory, the EU's 1995 data protection regulation prevents their transfer to non-EU countries that do not offer "adequate" protection. In practice, though, a recommendation adopted by the Commission in 2000, Safe Harbour, permits American firms that agree to comply with EU legislation to process this data. The Commission now assures that application of the data protection regulation will prevail over all other commitments. However, telecoms and e-commerce and therefore "data flows" are indeed included in its mandate.
