CIPL President Collaborates with EU, US Experts on Transatlantic Privacy Solutions, Results Published in ‘Privacy Bridges’ Paper

NEW YORK — The Privacy Bridge Initiative today released “Privacy Bridges – EU and US Privacy Experts in Search of Transatlantic Privacy Solutions,” a white paper on practical proposals to increase the transatlantic level of protection of personal data. Bojana Bellamy, president of The Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP (CIPL), collaborated on the report with 18 additional privacy experts from the European Union and the United States, including Indiana University Maurer School of Law Prof. Fred Cate, a senior policy advisor to CIPL

The report frames an in-depth discussion of 10 “privacy bridges” or practical steps toward shrinking the gap between the EU and US’s approaches to privacy and creating transatlantic privacy protection by “furthering the interests of individuals and increasing certainty for commercial organizations” without requiring legislative changes on either side of the Atlantic

Bellamy welcomed the release of the report, saying: “With the mounting legal uncertainty over transatlantic data flows and the increasing challenges of our digital society, there has never been a more pressing moment to collaborate on practical measures that can leverage our shared privacy values for the benefit of both our citizens and commercial organizations.” Cate stresses: “The key aspect of this initiative is that it is focused on practical, pragmatic steps that can actually be implemented even while countries on both sides of the Atlantic continue to debate data protection laws.” “If everyone can work together to implement these bridges, the report will have done its job and people on both sides of the Atlantic will benefit.”

Privacy Bridges will be a key topic for discussion at next week’s 37th International Privacy Conference to be held in Amsterdam, October 26-29.