Last year’s revelations of government surveillance programs by the NSA and others, along with possible lack of enforcement of the Safe Harbor program by the FTC, caused the European Civil Liberties Committee to recommend suspending the entire EU-U.S. Safe Harbor approach. If the recommendation was followed, the implications for businesses would be dramatic. U.S. companies would no longer be able to enjoy the simplified data sharing policy currently in place for those that are able to meet EU requirements to earn Safe Harbor certification. Certified companies are able to transfer private customer data out of the EU and receive transfers of data from EU companies as long as they properly meet renewal requirements each year.
While the repeal has not taken place, just recently, a high-level EU official called for suspending the agreement if the US did not meet some new and stricter data sharing policies by this summer.
Source: Open Source