A German regulator has fined three companies for failing to change the way they share people’s personal information, following invalidation of the Safe Harbour agreement in Germany last year.
The fines might be insignificant but highlight the enormous problems that companies face without a catch-all agreement covering data flows.
The Hamburg Data Commissioner fined Adobe 8000 euros (A$12,000), Pepsi subsidiary Punica 9000 euros ($13,000) and Unilever 11,000 euros ($16,000) because they had not “established allowed alternative methods” six months after the transatlantic pact was struck down by the European Court of Justice.
The Safe Harbour agreement allowed companies in the US and Europe to swap people’s private records, but was shut down after it was feared all that information was flowing straight into the US National Security Agency’s servers.
