EU Justice Commissioner: US tech giants must comply with data protection rules

Vivien Redding Viviane Reding, EU Justice commissioner, said in Thursday that Google, Facebook, Apple and other non-European companies offering services in the EU market must comply with the comprehensive overhaul of data protection rules.

In a speech in Brussels today, Reading said the same restrictions must apply to all companies operating in the EU market. EU consumers need to know that their data is being processed in a way that is in line with EU rules, which "reflects the fact that data protection is a fundamental right", she said.

Reading introduced in January 2012 a plan to overhaul the data protection rules, which apply to all 27 EU members. Reading from the outset insisted that once these rules were supported and implemented by members of Congress and government ministers, it would also apply to American companies such as Facebook and Google. New data protection rules will "update" an existing EU data protection law, which dates back to 1995, Reading said today.

"The rationale for this is simple: if a company outside Europe wants to use the European market and reach a potential 500 million users in the market, it must act in accordance with EU rules." Reading said in the speech.

Google, Facebook and several other US internet companies have been facing scrutiny in the EU market, which suspects that their use of personal data may violate privacy rules. Data-protection officials from 30 European countries have been urging Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to limit their time to store search records, and officials criticized Facebook's privacy policy changes, saying it could hurt users ' privacy.

Companies such as Google and Microsoft issued a warning to the European Union in 2011 that "overly restrictive" data privacy restrictions could hurt technological development in the region. But Reading said today that she would not accept any attempt to weaken the rules. "People who want to maintain a high level of data protection in Europe have come to realize that they need to act quickly," he said. "Reading said. "Those who want to reduce the level of data protection in Europe have been trying to hinder this process, and I will not let this happen." ”

The plan aims to raise Internet users ' control over their personal data and, for the first time, allows all EU data-protection regulators to impose fines on companies that violate regulations intentionally or negligently, up to 2% of the company's annual global sales. It also includes the creation of a coordinated approach among EU regulators to avoid lengthy vetting procedures faced by companies in the face of different decisions from different regulatory bodies.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)