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Corporate
rules and international data transfers
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| What
are the implications of tranfering personal data? |
Paris,
17 November 2004
- When a business group wants to transfer data of a personal nature to
another country, it has to pause before clicking "send". What
are the legal implications in moving such private information to another
jurisdiction?
A new report published
by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world business organization,
provides guidance on drafting and implementing company policies to provide
a workable legal solution for the transfer of personal data. These policies
are called "binding corporate rules" (BCRs). A number of companies
are already using BCRs in their corporate operations worldwide, but uncertainty
remains about their binding legal status in some jurisdictions. Such uncertainty
is dispelled in the ICC report.
ICC carried out a
survey of data transfer solutions as well as the legal enforceability
of corporate codes of conduct in a wide range of countries, the first
research of its type and scope. It became evident that, although existing
contractual solutions for data transfer are still useful, they are impractical
for many corporate businesses involved in frequent global transfers of
data.
According to Christopher
Kuner, Chair of the ICC Data Protection Task Force: "the ICC report
demonstrates that BCRs can be legally enforceable under a number of theories,
and should thus be recognized under data protection law as a workable
solution to provide a legal basis for the international transfer of personal
data."
ICC's report examines
the factors that companies should take into account when drafting and
using BCRs, as well as their binding legal status in some selected jurisdictions
around the world. The report further stresses that BCRs not only help
businesses to safely transfer data, but also help to develop consumer
confidence by respecting an individual's right to data privacy and security.
Th
e report will now
be sent to interested governments, and will be presented at a hearing
organized by the European data protection authorities (Article 29 Working
Party) in The Hague on November 24.
ICC
report on binding corporate rules for international transfers of personal
data
For more information,
please contact:
Manuela van der Laan
Policy Assistant
Tel: +33 1 49 53 28 07
Fax: +33 1 49 53 28 59
Email: Click here to send a mail
Ayesha Hassan
Senior Policy Manager
Electronic Business, Telecommunications and IT
International Chamber of Commerce
38 Cours Albert 1er
75008 Paris, France
tel: +33 1 49 53 30 13
fax: +33 1 49 53 28 59
Email: Click here to send a mailClick here to send a mail.">
Commission
on E-business, IT and Telecoms
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