On October 12, 2010, the Article 29 Working Party opined that the Eastern Republic of Uruguay provides an adequate level of data protection within the meaning of Article 25(6) of the Directive 95/46/EC (hereinafter: “Directive”). The opinion was issued due to the official request of the Uruguayan Government submitted to the European Commission in October 2008.
The Article 29 Working Party concluded that Uruguayan data protection legislation covers the main data protection principles set forth in the Directive. An important catalyst in the adequacy finding is that Uruguay has an independent data protection authority with adequate enforcement competences.
The European Commission is expected to follow the Article 29 Working Party and to adopt a formal Decision declaring that the Eastern Republic of Uruguay provides adequate data protection. Only then will business be in a position to transfer personal data to Uruguay outside the European Economic Area without further measures such as data transfer agreements.
The text of the opinion is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2010/wp177_en.pdf
Jan Dhont & Joanna Tomaszewska
Lorenz Brussels
Tel.: +32 2 239 2000
E-mail: j.dhont@lorenz-law.com