The European Commission is planning to initiate negotiations with the US to establish an ‘umbrella data protection agreement’ providing legal certainty and high standards of data protection for data transfers. Currently, EU data protection law permits personal data to be passed outside Europe only where there are equivalent protections in place. All EU member states will consider the plan prior to negotiations. The planned ‘umbrella’ agreement should improve the ease of transfer of data to and from the US and provide reassurance for data subjects. This agreement will be of interest to institutions that currently restrict what personal information is transferred outside Europe and have to negotiate separate agreements for the protection of that data. For more information, please go to: http://www.out-law.com/page-11220.