It sounds like the latest superhero movie from Marvel comics. In fact, the EU-US Privacy Shield is the long-expected Safe Harbour 2.0. In a deal reached just after the deadline set by the Article 29 Working Group, the EU Commission proudly proclaimed “Our people can be sure that their personal data is fully protected.”

We haven’t got all the details yet so for now we are stuck with the sound bites from the EU Commission of what it entails:

• Robust obligations on US companies processing EU data to protect individual rights
• The US Department of Commerce will monitor publication of commitment statements by US companies
• Compliance with decisions by European DPAs
• No indiscriminate mass surveillance on EU personal data
• Annual joint review by the Commission and the US Department of Commerce
• Redress where data is misused

Is the Privacy Shield the EU Commission’s Hulk to take on the NSA, or is this more like My Little Pony? We await to see.