Dr. Axel Spies is a German attorney (Rechtsanwalt) in Washington, DC, and co-publisher of the German journals Multi-Media-Recht (MMR) and Zeitschrift für Datenschutz (ZD).
EU/U.S. Data Transfers: New Privacy Shield – How Does It Look and What Happens Next?
The EU is acting at breakneck speed to fill the legal gap that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) created in October, invalidating the Safe Harbor Agreement for EU/U.S. data …
Data Transfers: EU Court Declares EU/US Safe Harbor “Invalid” – What Now?
U.S. companies with European business will most likely mark 6 October 2015 as a dark day on their calendars. The highest EU court, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in …
New German Cybersecurity (BSI) Act:Ready for the Next Cyber War?
As do many other countries, Germany struggles to find the right balance between privacy and cybersecurity. It is a balancing act on many fronts. The German government has suggested a …
Mandatory Data Retention Soon More Extensive in Germany than Under the USA Freedom Act
When the news broke a few days ago that the U.S. Senate had finally approved the USA Freedom Act, German commenters received it with satisfaction. However, there are various differences …
New EU Commission
“Your objective is to make Europe a world leader in information and communication technology, with all the tools to succeed in the global digital economy and society. […] To do …
German/U.S. Data Transfers: Crucial for Both Economies, Difficult to Regain Trust
Issue Brief 46 There has been a heated transatlantic debate on cyber issues since Edward Snowden’s release of classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents last year that described various surveillance …
The NSA Spies on the German Chancellor’s Cell Phone. What Now?
The popular German legal Beck-Blog recently hosted a lively discussion on whether there are legal ways and means to challenge the alleged spying by the NSA on German Chancellor Angela …
A Reasonable Expectation of Privacy? Data Protection in the United States and Germany
Policy Report 22 In the borderless world of the twenty-first century, global interconnectivity has never been greater. Through the use of millions of computers, billions of e-mails, and a level …
