Wall Street Journal, February 2, 2016

By Natalia Drozdiak and Sam Schechner

That uncertainty worries companies. “If tomorrow the other mechanisms are no longer valid, we will have a huge problem,” said Thomas Boué, policy director in Europe, Middle East and Africa of BSA | The Software Alliance, which represents Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. While he says he is “very hopeful” a deal will be done, he added: “We could be facing a pretty dire situation if there is no clarity.”Negotiators for the U.S. and EU have been working to clinch a deal that proves U.S. national security services don’t indiscriminately amass Europeans’ data. The EU has been pushing for more clarity about the circumstances when those intelligence services tap into Europeans’ information, but the U.S. has resisted full transparency, claiming it could compromise how its intelligence agencies work.Ms. Jourova said Monday the EU was obtaining specific written assurances from the U.S., signed at the highest political level, ensuring that access by public authorities to personal data transferred from Europe would be limited to what is necessary and appropriate.

She also said it was crucial that the safeguards for individuals from mass surveillance also apply to non-U.S. citizens.

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Original Posting: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-and-eu-miss-deadline-on-data-protection-deal-1454424791?tesla=y&mod=vocus