Snowden Slams New EU-US Data Transfer Deal as ‘Accountability Shield'

Former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden called a new data transfer deal between the United States and the European Union an "accountability shield."

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden slammed the new EU-US data transfer deal, dubbed Privacy Shield, as "accountability shield."

On Tuesday, the European Commission said that Brussels and Washington had agreed on a new data transfer deal regulating information flows across the Atlantic to substitute the EU-US Safe Harbor agreement of 2000, which the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated in October 2015 because it was deemed to provide inadequate personal data protection.

"It's not a ‘Privacy Shield,’ it's an accountability shield. Never seen a policy agreement so universally criticized," Snowden wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

It's not a "Privacy Shield," it's an accountability shield. Never seen a policy agreement so universally criticized. https://t.co/VxXxxkIEPR

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 2, 2016

​Snowden cited Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German lawmaker, who accused the European Commission earlier in the day of selling out fundamental European rights, as well as claiming that the deal would draw criticism from the CJEU.

According to the European Commission, the new EU-US data transfer deal imposes stronger obligations on US companies to protect the personal data of European users to be monitored and enforced by the US Department of Commerce and Federal Trade Commission.