11th Annual Data Privacy Day Celebration Highlights Trans-Atlantic Collaboration

26 February 2019 Reed Smith Client Alerts

Page d'accueil Perspectives 11th Annual Data Privacy Day Celebration Highlights Trans-Atlantic Collaboration

Each January 28th for the past 11 years, Americans, Europeans and others have convened to celebrate the importance and significance of privacy and data protection to global prosperity. This past Monday, Reed Smith’s Washington, D.C., office hosted Leonardo Cervera-Navas, Director of the European Data Protection Supervisor, and Abigail Slater, Special Assistant to the President for Tech, Telecom and Cybersecurity, along with 70 guests to celebrate Data Privacy Day. The panelists offered expert insight into the approaches to privacy in the EU and United States and offered predictions about how privacy laws will evolve and be enforced on both continents.

Auteurs: Gerard M. Stegmaier

David Hoffman, Associate General Counsel and Global Privacy Officer at Intel, shared the history of Data Privacy Day and Mr. Cervera-Navas’ role in it, noting that Data Privacy Day helps celebrate the similarities – not the differences – between the United States and the European Union.

The remainder of the event focused on a conversation lead by Mr. Dan Caprio, co-founder of the Providence Group and former senior official in both the Commerce Department and Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Caprio noted that every day should be a “data privacy day” and that efforts like the annual day contribute to a much richer cultural understanding between Americans and Europeans, helping to bridge large gaps in awareness about the shared importance of privacy and how each region promotes and actively protects it.

The EU and U.S. representatives each shared perspectives on the current state of progress in the privacy arena. Mr. Cervera-Navas described the 10-year process of negotiating Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and its origins in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, the most basic right of which is human dignity. He noted that over 150 countries have passed data protection legislation. In 2018, Japan and the EU also agreed to recognize each other’s data protection regimes, thereby paving the way for easier cross-border data flow. Many major U.S. tech executives have expressed support for a broad baseline federal law that might achieve similar recognition. According to Cervera-Navas, “It’s about time that the United States join the club.”

Ms. Slater suggested that prosperity and privacy are increasingly linked and that, “while principles are easy, legislation is hard.” She highlighted the quiet work and momentum coming out of the Commerce Department, as well as continued efforts from the National Telecommunications Information Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Discussion on baseline federal privacy legislation in the United States continues. Intel’s policy office has released potential draft legislation for discussion and feedback in a novel approach that has received notable attention in the privacy world. (Intel’s draft legislation can be accessed at usprivacybill.intel.com) Mr. Cervera-Navas opined that the EU remained ready and enthusiastic to help share its recent experience with the GDPR as a resource for U.S. policymakers.

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