Tuesday 19 April 2016

How Europe Is Going After Google, Amazon and Other U.S. Tech Giants

How Europe Is Going After Google, Amazon and Other U.S. Tech Giants - The New York Times: "In February, European officials agreed to a new so-called safe-harbor deal with the United States that would govern how American tech giants and thousands of other businesses move people’s digital data, including social media posts and financial information, back and forth across the Atlantic.

The agreement aims to address privacy concerns by including written guarantees by the United States — to be reviewed annually — that American intelligence agencies would not have indiscriminate access to Europeans’ digital data when it is sent across the Atlantic.

Europe’s highest court in October 2015 had struck down an earlier safe-harbor agreement, saying it was flawed because it allowed American government authorities to gain routine access to Europeans’ online information.

That ruling, by the European Court of Justice, empowered regulators of data privacy in each of the bloc’s nations to evaluate how data is moved from their countries to the United States, and it will permit national authorities to impose tougher restrictions on specific data transfers.

In April, Europe’s national privacy regulators said the safe-harbor deal did not go far enough to safeguard the personal information of Internet users in Europe, serving notice that American companies could face protracted country-by-country legal battles even if the safe-harbor agreement is ratified. 


Separately, American technology companies are facing many regulatory challenges over taxation, antitrust and privacy matters.

On taxation, European Union officials are intent on imposing a blocwide standard for taxation and clawing back what they consider improper tax breaks granted by national governments to multinational companies, including the technology giants." 'via Blog this'

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