Data Protection: EU, Japan edge towards data protection dealbusiness and politics

Following the July conclusion of EU-Japan talks on personal data flows, the Commission launched Thursday a procedure for adoption of its decision on data protection adequacy between the two blocs.

"We are creating the world's largest area of safe data flows," said the EU's Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova, as she briefed the College of Commissioners on next steps and the Commission published the draft adequacy decision and the related documents.

This includes additional safeguards that Japan will apply to EU personal data transferred to Japan, as well as commitments regarding access to personal data by Japanese public authorities for law enforcement and national security purposes, guaranteeing that their level of data protection is adequate to that of the EU's. Japan is going through a similar process to recognise the EU's data protection framework.

Read more : EU, Japan edge towards data protection deal — EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics

New TISA Leak: US On Collision Course With EU Over Global Data Flows - Glyn Moody

Although most attention has been given to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), also known as TTIP, it's important to remember that a third set of global trade negotiations are underway -- those for the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), which involves more countries than either of the other two.

Like TPP and TAFTA/TTIP, TISA is being negotiated in strict secrecy, but earlier this year the financial services annex leaked, giving us the first glimpse of the kind of bad ideas that were being worked on. Now, another leak has surfaced, which reveals the US's proposals to free up data flows online.

For the European Union, that's a hugely sensitive issue. Under data protection laws there, personal data cannot be sent outside the EU unless companies sign up to the self-certification scheme known as the Safe Harbor framework. However, in the wake of Snowden's revelations about NSA spying in Europe, the European Parliament has called for the Safe Harbor scheme to be 

Read more: New TISA Leak: US On Collision Course With EU Over Global Data Flows | Techdirt