Judicial Redress Act passes the House with the Senate Amendments

The amended Judicial Redress Act has passed the House and is on its way to the president to be signed into law. The Act, which we covered in an earlier blog post, gives citizens of foreign countries the same rights as US citizens in connection with the use by the US government of their personal data, subject to a determination by the Attorney General that the country in question cooperates with the US in sharing law enforcement information, doesn’t impede the flow of personal data to the US for commercial purposes, and meets certain other requirements. Essentially, the Judicial Redress Act helps assuage the EU’s concerns about government uses of personal data. The Judicial Redress Act is vital for the EU’s acceptance of the Umbrella Agreement for sharing of data by law enforcement agencies. It should be helpful for the proposed new “Privacy Shield,” which is currently under review by representatives of Europe’s national data protection agencies.