Safe Harbor: Staying Alive?

15 October 2015

Latham & Watkins, London, UK

Overview

A complimentary 90-minute breakfast seminar

Latham & Watkins, in partnership with Privacy Laws and Business, is hosting an emergency breakfast seminar to discuss the implications of the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) declaration that the US Safe Harbor decision is invalid.

On 6 October 2015, the ECJ invalidated the Commission's decision that had allowed companies to transfer personal data from the EU to the United States under the EU-US Safe Harbor Framework. This decision has wide-reaching implications for international transfers for companies that have relied on Safe Harbor to receive and process data in the US. In the short term, companies will need to consider many changes to the regulatory and enforcement environment:

  • What are the alternative transfer mechanisms best suited to business operations and footprint?
  • Are there real world steps to take internally to mitigate the risk of copycat data subject complaints against other businesses which collect and store EU data in the US (a) with vendors or (b) directly?
  • How does the decision change dealings with key DPAs, as a matter of regulatory filings, building trusted relationships, or dealing with heightened enforcement risks?

Topics

Our data privacy experts will lead a discussion focusing on:

  • The history and politics of Safe Harbor
  • Dispelling some of the myths about the court's decision
  • The real risk of enforcement for companies that relied on Safe Harbor
  • Expected developments over the next few months
  • Alternative mechanisms: Pros and Cons
  • Checklist for companies of next steps

Come and discuss over breakfast and coffee how your peers are addressing this development. Chatham House rule will apply.

Speakers

Gail Crawford, Partner, Latham & Watkins, London
Jennifer Archie, Partner, Latham & Watkins, Washington D.C.
Ulrich Wuermeling, Partner, Latham & Watkins, Frankfurt
Stewart Dresner, Chief Executive, Privacy Laws and Business

For more information on the topic, please refer to Latham & Watkins' recent blog post answering the most common questions and suggesting possible alternatives and approaches.

Location

Latham & Watkins
99 Bishopsgate
London EC2M 3XF
United Kingdom