US tech majors will face more EU privacy challenges

Subject

Action by European regulators and courts against US technology firms.

Significance

The Hamburg state data protection authority this month rejected an appeal by Google against the authority's decision requiring changes to Google's handling of users' personal data. This latest action comes as negotiations on new EU data-protection rules have reached a critical stage. These are raising questions about the transatlantic handling of personal data, an increasingly important resource commercially and politically.

Impacts

• Policy differences within the EU will make it hard for the bloc to reach agreement on its proposed new data-protection rules this year.
• Given that user adaptation to any new EU regime will take at least two years, full compliance will not occur before 2018.
• Data protection will remain the most sensitive issues in transatlantic tensions over internet governance.
• Privacy and data-protection campaigners will try to block any transatlantic agreements on these issues, via legislative or judicial means.