As US Tech Companies Scramble, Group Sees Opportunity in Safe Harbor Decision

A group of leading global privacy experts says government officials in Europe and America should use the ruling to their advantage — as a way to create better cooperation between agencies. The group, whose project is called Privacy Bridges, will publish recommendations that offer regulators a series of specific steps to help officials work better together.

“We should never waste a good crisis,” said Jacob Kohnstamm, a member of the group and the data protection regulator in the Netherlands. “We’re trying to make things a little less onerous with these practical steps.” In particular, the group wants greater cooperation between Europe’s privacy regulators and the Federal Trade Commission, the American agency primarily in charge of data protection issues. Such collaboration could reduce misunderstandings on each region’s stance toward privacy, build trust between global regulators and share the best ways to handle new tech trends like cloud computing, according to the group. The group, whose members include Daniel Weitzner, a former deputy chief technology officer at the White House, will recommend that countries give individuals greater control over how their data is used. In addition, they say, companies should be more transparent when government agencies request access to people’s online information.