Computer maker Gateway has joined the Safe Harbor agreement, a
scheme which is designed to bring US companies in line with
European data protection requirements. EU law lays down a
prohibition on transfers of personal data from member states to
third parties in countries which do not satisfy EU privacy
standards – including the US. To overcome this commercial
inconvenience, organisations which want to transfer data from
Europe to the US can voluntarily subscribe to the principles laid
down in the agreement.
A Gateway spokesman said that his company had previously held
all EU data within the territory itself. It was, said the
spokesman, the decision to move Gateway’s EU data to the US that
prompted the company to join the agreement as a safeguard.
The agreement has, as yet, been entered into by only 120
companies. Those that have chosen not to participate could find
themselves subject to enforcement actions if their privacy
practices are found to be insufficient under EU law.
