The U.S. and European Union have struck a deal on a new voluntary safe harbor framework for U.S. storage of data from EU member-country citizens.
Thousands of companies use the harbor, which had been threatened when an EU court invalidated it, citing the Edward Snowden leaks, which called into question U.S. company privacy protection pledges given government surveillance. The U.S. and Europe had been working on a new agreement ever since the 2013 Snowden revelations, but the court decision lit a fire under the effort.
Privacy activists will likely sue to block the harbor because chances are good no voluntary regime will satisfy them.
The Obama Administration helped negotiate the agreement, and a host of Republican legislators also support it. If the president and GOP leaders agree on something, it is best to capture that unicorn before it disappears into the seemingly inescapable mist.
