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US, EU adopt new rules for transferring internet data

This January 29, 2010 AFP file photo shows the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland.

A new agreement has come into effect between the United States and the European Union (EU) on the surveillance of cross-border internet data flow.

The US-EU commercial data pact, named Privacy Shield, imposes stricter obligations on American companies to safeguard the personal data of European individuals.

The US government says that based on the new agreement, any access to private data on national security grounds will be subject to clearer conditions and EU citizens can file a complaint about US spying.

The Privacy Shield seeks to strengthen the protection of EU citizens whose data is moved to US servers.

Those Europeans who think their data has been misused will have the chance to file a complaint with the US State Department.

Google, Facebook and Microsoft said they would sign up to the Privacy Shield and would work with European data protection authorities in case of complaints about US spying.

A similar framework, Safe Harbor, was rejected by the EU's top court in October because it allowed American agents too much access to Europeans' data.

European critics say the new framework does not go far enough to protect Europeans' internet data. Privacy Shield was "little more than a little upgrade to Safe Harbor," said Max Schrems, the Austrian law student who successfully challenged Safe Harbor.

EU data protection authorities had demanded improvements to the Privacy Shield in April. The authorities are now analyzing the arrangement and would finalize their approval by July 25.

US surveillance programs are still under fire years after revelations by former American intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden about mass US spying.

In 2013, Snowden, who previously worked for the CIA and NSA, leaked classified intelligence documents showing massive collections of phone records of Americans and foreign nationals as well as political leaders around the world.

 Snowden, who lives in Russia where he has been granted asylum, has said that US government surveillance methods far surpass those of an ‘Orwellian’ state, referring to George Orwell’s classic novel “1984,” which describes a society where personal privacy is continuously invaded by spy agencies.


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