The EU-US Privacy Shield data-sharing deal meant to protect Europeans' personal information is up for its first review. EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova told DW the assessment was a "moment of truth."
Image: picture alliance/C.Ohde
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EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova is in Washington for the first annual review of the EU-US Privacy Shield. The data-sharing agreement is meant to strengthen the protection of Europeans whose data is stored on US servers. DW caught up with Commissioner Jourova to hear how Europe feels the deal is working out.
DW: The White House said last week it believes the Privacy Shield review "will demonstrate the strength of the American promise to protect the personal data of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic." Are you as confident as the White House that US companies protect the personal data of European citizens as required under the Privacy Shield agreement?
Vera Jourova: I could not have it said it better. The White House statement made my day. But of course we came here to check and we want to look at a number of detailed questions about how the Privacy Shield works in practice. Because on paper, back when we adopted the Privacy Shield decision last year, I said it should deliver the protection. So we have come to check whether it is fully implemented in practice and whether everybody does what he or she is committed to do. And on the national security side we also wanted American officials to commit themselves to not applying any excessive access to data. This system is based on trust and control. And so the review will be a moment of truth.
I will be able to answer your question fully after we have analyzed all the answers we will have received here in Washington and also from the American companies which I will meet in California in the next two days.
But of course there has been a big change. "America First" was understood by everybody to present a potential problem with regards to the Privacy Shield and data protection. It was a kind of wake-up call. We need to check that "America First" does not mean "America Only." And we have to make sure that it is understood that the Privacy Shield is intended to protect privacy, security and also to uphold the interests of the businesses – not just American businesses, but also EU businesses. So we have to be careful what "America First" means.
Vera Jourova has been EU Justice Commissioner since October 2014Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Charlier
What can you say so far about your interactions with the Trump administration and its America First approach? Are they committed to the Privacy Shield?
I think they are committed, at least what I heard from [Secretary of Commerce] Wilbur Ross. He told me several times that he understands the importance of the Privacy Shield not just for businesses, but also for the protection of privacy.
Allow me to get a little personal here. As I told you, this is a trust and check exercise. And what helped me was that I trusted [Former Secretary of Commerce] Penny Pritzker.
So do you trust her successor, Secretary Ross, as well?
I believe him when he says it is important for him. But we have to check whether this is also reflected in the everyday work of the American authorities. But of course we would be checking on the Privacy Shield regardless of who is in the administration.
From the fingerprint to biometric data
125 years ago an Argentinian criminologist systematically took fingerprints of prisoners. Today there is a wealth of biometric information which police officers can collect: DNA, sounds, pictures and data.
Image: arfo - Fotolia.com
A standard in modern forensics for 125 years
In 1891, a Croatian born, Argentine criminologist, Juan Vucetich, started building up the first modern-style fingerprint archive. Since then, fingerprints have become one of the main forms of evidence used to convict criminals. Here, a police officer spreads dust on the lock of a burglarized apartment. Fingerprints become visible.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Archiving and comparing prints
He uses an adhesive film to capture the fingerprint. Then he glues it to a piece of paper. In the past, comparing fingerprints was a painstaking affair. Officers had to compare fingerprints found at the scene of a crime, one-by-one, with those of possible suspects. These days computers do the job.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
No more ink
Taking fingerprints used to be a messy affair - with ink and dirty hands. These days scanners have replaced the inky mess. And the data can immediately be sent to a database and turned into biometrical data.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/P. Endig
Fingerprints form an identity
The computer identifies typical spots within the ridge patterns of the fingerprint. These include forks in the lines, spots and the location of the center of the print. Fingerprints are never the same between two people - not even with identical twins.
Image: itestro/Fotolia.com
Vote early and vote often!
No chance! Here, officials use fingerprint scanners during an election in Nigeria. It's how they make sure the people voting are registered voters and that they only vote once.
Image: APC Presidential Campaign Organisation
Who entered Europe where?
This is an important question for officials who have to decide about the refugee or asylum status of applicants. In the European Union all migrants are supposed to have their fingerprints taken at the first point of entry - provided, of course, the local police officers are equipped with the scanners.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Weigel
Hands off! It's my data!
Many smartphones now come with fingerprint recognition software, such as the iPhone's Touch-ID. The owner of the phone unlocks it with his fingerprint. If someone else finds or steals the phone, they have no way of getting at any encrypted data within.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa Themendienst
Secure ATM banking
This is an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) in the Scottish town of Dundee. Customers wanting to withdraw money need to show biometric proof of identity - in the form of a fingerprint. Not good news for pickpockets.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Fingerprint inside the passport
Since 2005, German passports, and many other passports, contain a digital fingerprint as part of the biometric information stored on a RFID (radio-frequency controlled ID) chip. Other information on the chip includes a biometric passport photo. The facial image is similar to fingerprints: no two images are alike.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Grimm
When computers recognize faces
Facial recognition software, which uses biometrics, is well advanced. It is possible to identify suspects within large crowds, with surveillance cameras. Also internet services and private computer owners are increasingly making use of facial recognition software to sort holiday pictures and tagging them to names.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The inventor of the genetic fingerprint
Alec Jeffreys discovered DNA-fingerprinting almost accidentally in 1984 during research at the University of Leicester. He identified a specific pattern on DNA segments, which were different for every human. He created a picture, which looks like a barcode at the supermarket.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A barcode for every human
Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) started storing such barcodes in a federal database in 1998. Investigators have since solved more than 18,000 crimes, using genetic fingerprints.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Clearing the innocent
It's not just criminals who get identified. Many innocent people can be cleared of criminal charges through good identification. For some, technology has saved their lives. Kirk Bloodsworth spent almost nine years on death row. The US Innocence Project has proved the false incarceration of more than 100 people using DNA evidence.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Clarity for victims' families
The first big test for DNA-fingerprinting came with the mass murder of Srebrenica. Bodies, exhumed from mass graves, were systematically identified using DNA techniques. They were then reburied by their loved ones. Here, five year old Ema Hasanovic pays last respects to her uncle. More than 6,000 victims of the massacre - mostly men - were identified using DNA-fingerprinting.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Emric
Biometric data on your phone and computer
You may be surprised, but there's biometric information in sounds and other digital data. Voice recognition software can, for instance, identify people making threatening phone calls - the human voice is also unique. And don't forget: we leave all kinds of digital traces on the internet, which hold clues to who we really are.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Warmuth (
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There are efforts by the Trump administration to permanently reauthorize a controversial section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which is set to expire at the end of the year which could also impact European citizens. What is your stance on those efforts?
The Privacy Shield is dependent on the American legislation that protects the privacy of the people. This section 702, together with the Presidential Policy Directive 28, which identifies the limits of access national security bodies have to data, are the pillars of the Privacy Shield. When I was finalizing the negotiations, I said very clearly, that we Europeans would like to see in the US, as robust a law as possible, like we have in Europe, for the protection of the privacy of people. But I also said we can live with the legislation that is in place now. So now with the expiration of FISA we are of course very vigilant that the protection of privacy will not be lower than the current standard.
There is also an increasing debate in Washington whether US anti-trust laws should be used to look at the behavior and practices of major US Internet companies like Google or Amazon. Since the EU has been acting on this already, do you support such a move?
I think they should apply the American laws, whoever is concerned, exactly like we do in the EU. It is sometimes tough. But what my colleague [European Competition Commissioner] Margrethe Vestager does in this anti-trust field is nothing more than applying EU law, which applies to everyone who wants to make use of the European market.
Vera Jourova has been the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality since 2014. She has led EU negotiations for the Privacy Shield agreement with the US, which went into effect in July 2016.
