Article written by Haim Ravia and Dotan Hammer
The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority published a position paper on the Israeli implications of the Schrems II decision of the Court of Justice of the EU.
Under the nearly two-decade-old Israeli regulations governing the cross-border transfer of personal data, data may be transferred from Israel to destinations outside Israel only subject to various conditions. One of the instances in which the Israeli cross-border data transfer regulations permit the transfer of personal data from Israel is where the target jurisdiction receives personal data from EU member states under to the same terms of those EU member states.
Shortly after the invalidation of the Safe Harbor program in 2015 (the Privacy Shield’s predecessor), the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority published a position paper explaining that cross border transfer of personal data from Israel to the U.S. can no longer rely on the Safe Harbor’s adequacy under EU data protection law.
Thereafter, following the establishment of the successor Privacy Shield program in 2016, the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority remained silent on its implications. Some stakeholders had interpreted the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority’s silence as acquiescence that cross border transfer of data from Israeli to the U.S. was once again permissible under the Privacy Shield.
Now, resonating a message similar to its response to the Safe Harbor’s invalidation in 2015, the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority’s new position paper explains that cross-border transfer of personal data from Israel to the U.S. cannot rely on the Privacy Shield’s adequacy under EU data protection law. The Israeli regulator emphasizes that any cross-border data transfers from Israel to the U.S. must comply with one (or more) of the other permissible mechanisms specified in the Israeli cross-border data transfer regulations.
CLICK HERE to read the position paper regarding the transfer of personal data from Israel to the US, issued by the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority (in Hebrew).
