European Union ministers have agreed that firms located outside the European Union must abide by data protection and privacy rules within the 28-member bloc.
As it stands now, it is very unclear what rules and regulations firms need to abide by within the EU. For example, a German court recently ruled that Facebook was subject to data protection laws within Germany, even though Facebook's headquarter are located in Ireland.
The EU seeks to end this disorder by having one blanket set of data protection laws that applies to all 28 states.
"All companies operating on European soil have to apply the rules," EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said, according to Reuters.
Disclosures of surveillance operations targeting Europeans, mainly by the NSA, has pushed the issue toward the top of the agenda at the EU level, but there are plenty of things that still need to be ironed out before such new rules can come into force.
The EU seeks to end this disorder by having one blanket set of data protection laws that applies to all 28 states.
"All companies operating on European soil have to apply the rules," EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said, according to Reuters.
Disclosures of surveillance operations targeting Europeans, mainly by the NSA, has pushed the issue toward the top of the agenda at the EU level, but there are plenty of things that still need to be ironed out before such new rules can come into force.
