EU and US Data Protection Reforms. A Comparative View

• Author: Gabriela Zanfir
• Position: PhD student, Assistant Researcher, Faculty of Law and Administrative Studies, University of Craiova
• Pages: 217-223

Legal Sciences

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EU and US Data Protection Reforms. A Comparative View

Gabriela Zanfir

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Abstract: This research makes a comparative analysis of two significant reform projects in data protection

legislation, proposed in early 2012 in the EU and the US, in order to identify the c ommon philosophies and

also the main differences between them. Its outcomes are important as transatlantic data transfers are

exponentially incr easing and their main actors need to know what to expect from both legal regimes. The

paper builds on a ground zero, as both reform projects were made public in late January – respectively late

February, so such a comparison can only refer to res earches made prior to the announcements regarding the

general concepts of privacy and data protection in the European and American view. The main method

employed is comparative observation. The results show that EU and US legislations start using the same

language regarding data pr otection law – by the legal definitions proposed and main principles implemented,

while s till keeping significant differences. Academics and researchers will have a starting point for future

comparative analyzes in a legal field which enjoys a lot of attention from lawmakers all over the globalized

world. The paper focuses on very recent legal developments, which need throughout analysis in order to

make them functional in practice.

Keywords: privacy; EU-US data transfers; legal definitions; privacy principles

1. Introduction

Privacy and data protection are a main concern for lawmakers of properly safeguarding human rights

and democracies. Living in a Surveillance Society is already a fact of the modern world and not only

an Orwellian product of imagination

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. Thankfully, the democratic mechanisms keep the Surveillance

Society in a framework of respect for human rights. Among such mechanisms, the most important is

the regulation of the protection of privacy and personal information. A recent study discovered that the

total number of new privacy laws globally, viewed by decade, shows that their growth is accelerating,

not merely expanding linearly: 8 (1970s), 13 (1980s), 21 (1990s), 35 (2000s) and 12 (2 years of the

2010s), giving the total of 89 (Greenleaf, 2012). The phenomenon began in Europe, Germany being

the first country which provided for a data protection law, but only in one of its regions – Hasse, in

1970. Several countries soon followed the model: Sweden, Denmark, France.

The European Union’s jurisdiction became the leading global defendant of personal data, imposing a

minimum standard of protection to countries that want to engage in data transfers with European

entities. And one of the countries that do not provide a minimum degree of compliance is the United

States of America. Hence, the two entities agreed upon a procedure called The Safe Harbor pri nciples,

which allow processors to make transatlantic data transfers. In early 2012, both countries made official

announcements regarding data protection reforms. The European Commission published the proposed

regulation for data protection on January 25 and the White House published the Consumer Privacy

Bill of Rights a month later.

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PhD student, Assistant Researcher, Faculty of L aw and Administrative Studies, University of Craiova. Address:

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A. I.

Cuza Str., Craiova 2 00585, Romania, Tel.: +40 251 414398, fax: +40 251 411688, Corresponding author:

gabriela.zanfir@gmail.com.

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See ‘A Report on the Surveillance Society’ for the UK Information Commissioner, by the Surveillance Study Network

(September 2006).