On the 16th of July 2020 the EU-US Privacy Shield was ruled invalid with immediate effect by the European Court of (“CJEU”). The steps that SaaS suppliers now need to take depend on the scale and type of international data flows and the transfer mechanisms used. If you rely solely upon the EU-US Privacy Shield for transfers to the US, you must replace the Privacy Shield with the EU Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (“SCCs”).
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SaaS Agreements – Data Protection – Privacy Shield Update
Similar to the rules under the Safe Harbor scheme, SaaS customer and SaaS suppliers need to self-certify their compliance with the principles of the Privacy Shield. The following are the core principles which must be adhered to.
Core Principles
Notice must be given to data subjects about specific issues;
Choice to opt out of disclosure of data to third parties;
Accountability for onward transfer to third parties;
SaaS Agreements – Data Protection – Privacy Shield Approved
EU data protection law prohibits SaaS suppliers and SaaS customers from transferring personal data to countries or territories outside the EEA unless they are considered to provide adequate protection. Below is a summary of the current position following the recent announcement that the EU-US Privacy Shield has been adopted by the EU Commission and will now replace Safe Harbor.
Continue readingSaaS Agreements – FAQs – EU Standard Contractual Clauses
EU model clauses are standard data processing agreements that have been approved by the EU Commission as providing adequate protection. There are currently two sets of standard contractual clauses for transfers of personal data between data controllers and one set for transfers between a data controller and a data processor. EU model clauses must be used unamended (other than where specific details may be added, as set out in the notes to the clauses).
Where personal data is transferred from:
a data controller in the EU (SaaS customer) to a data processor outside of the EEA (SaaS supplier); or
a SaaS supplier within the EU to a sub-processor located outside of the EEA;
the SaaS supplier will need to enter into EU model clauses with the SaaS customer or SaaS sub-processor, as applicable.
Continue readingSaaS Agreements – Data Protection – EU US Privacy Shield
A new privacy agreement called the Privacy Shield has been agreed by the US and EU to replace the safe harbour scheme. The Privacy Shield is based upon safe harbour but has additional protections, particularly with regard to public authority access to personal data. The Privacy Shield must now be reviewed by the European Commission before it can be relied upon and adopted by SaaS suppliers or customers. The European Commission is currently assessing whether or not the Privacy Shield provides adequate protection in accordance with EU data protection laws. This process is expected to take up to 3 months.
Continue readingSaaS Agreements – Data Protection – Changes to BCRs
The Article 29 Working Party, which represents the European data protection authorities (DPAs), recently announced that data processors (i.e. SaaS suppliers) can now use binding corporate rules (BCRs) to transfer personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Previously the use of BCRs was limited to data controllers (i.e. SaaS customers).
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