Will the EU and US Open a Transatlantic Umbrella?

[Commentary] After a five-year, arduous negotiation spanning two European Union Commissions and several changes in negotiation teams, the EU and US completed work on the data protection "Umbrella Agreement" regarding law enforcement data sharing. This agreement will put in place a comprehensive, high-level data protection framework for EU-US law enforcement cooperation. The completion of the agreement, however, is only the end of the first step.

The second step in the process is up to Congress and its consideration of the Judicial Redress Act (Redress Bill, HR 1428) introduced by Rep Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) The Redress Bill would authorize the Department of Justice to designate foreign countries whose citizens could bring civil actions in US courts under the Privacy Act of 1974. One could almost wish for the passage of the Redress Bill as a tribute to the hard work of the negotiators as well as for their health and sanity. But if Congress doesn't pass the bill, what then? Perhaps by that time the negotiators will be well-rested.

[John Kropf joined Reed Elsevier in 2012 as deputy counsel for privacy and information governance]