US technology giant Hewlett-Packard has this month joined the Safe
Harbor scheme, an agreement between the US and the European Union
on the safe transfer of personal data from the EU which concerns
its citizens.
HP is the first major technology company to join the scheme
which has to date proved unpopular with US businesses of which only
24 have signed-up since 1st November 2000.
“HP believes that consumer confidence will
be enhanced by ensuring customer privacy rights on- and off-line,"
said Barbara Lawler, customer privacy manager, HP Privacy Program.
"e-Commerce will grow faster if consumer confidence is reinforced
by company efforts to ensure consumers have an effective recourse
for privacy complaints through agreements like the safe
harbor."
The transfer of data outside the UK or other EU countries is
limited by data protection legislation to prevent transfers to
countries without adequate data protection laws. The US has no
equivalent legislation, instead relying on a self-regulatory
system. Under the safe harbor, US companies can voluntarily adhere
to a set of data protection principles to meet the requirements of
the EU as regards transfers of data to the US.
Amazon.co.uk was recently reported to the UK’s Information
Commissioner (formerly called the Data Protection Commissioner) for
alleged abuse of data protection rules against the transfer of
personal data to its US parent company without having signed-up to
the Safe Harbor agreement.
More
information on Safe Harbor
