is an IT and commercial lawyer with Bird & Bird International advising national and international clients on all kind of IT, online, copyright and data protection law matters. He is a Counsel based in our Frankfurt office. He works with clients from the public sector and with customers and suppliers from a broad range of industries including IT, financial services, energy, retail, healthcare and telecommunications. Lennart’s expertise covers the full range of matters of IT-law.
The decision creates significant uncertainty for organizations who rely on Safe Harbor either for their own, internal data transfers, or because they use a service provider which, in turn, relies on Safe Harbor to provide adequacy for its transfers to the US. Alternative methods of addressing data transfers will be needed – such as implementing EU Commission approved data transfer agreements, or obtaining individual consent. Although the decision has invalidated Safe Harbor – with immediate effect – organizations will need to look to the reactions of national data protection authorities to determine how urgently to implement alternative data transfer solutions.