The ICO has contacted me to say that it actually selected SnapSurveys because they offered clients the option of hosting survey response on UK servers, and it has checked with SnapSurveys that this remains the case. I’ve been pointed me to http://www.snapsurveys.com/survey-software/security-accessibility-and-professional-outline/ which confirms this point.
So the answer to my question
Is the ICO making unlawful transfers of personal data to the US?
I’m pleased to confirm, appears to be “no”.
Earlier this week the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published a blogpost by Deputy Commissioner David Smith, entitled The US Safe Harbor – breached but perhaps not destroyed!
“Don’t panic” says David to those data controllers who are currently relying on Safe Harbor as a means of ensuring that personal data transferred by them to the United States has adequate protection (in line with the requirements of Article 25 of the European Data Protection Directive, and the eighth principle of schedule one of the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA)). He is referring, of course, to the recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Schrems. which Data controllers should, he says, “take stock” and “make their own minds up”:
businesses in the UK don’t have to rely on Commission decisions on adequacy. Although you won’t get the same degree of legal certainty, UK law allows you to rely on your own adequacy assessment. Our guidance tells you how to go about doing this. Much depend [sic] here on the nature of the data that you are transferring and who you are transferring it to but the big question is can you reduce the risks to the personal data, or rather the individuals whose personal data it is, to a level where the data are adequately protected after transfer? The Safe Harbor can still play a role here.
Smith also refers to a recent statement by the Article 29 Working Party – the grouping of representatives of the various European data protection authorities, of which he is a member – and refers to “the substance of the statement being measured, albeit expressed strongly”. What he doesn’t say is how unequivocal it is in saying that
transfers that are still taking place under the Safe Harbour decision after the CJEU judgment are unlawful
And this is particularly interesting because, as I discovered today, the ICO itself appears (still) to be making transfers under Safe Harbor. I reported a nuisance call using its online tool (in doing so I included some sensitive personal data about a family member) and noticed that the tool was operated by SnapSurveys. The ICO’s own website privacy notice says
We collect information volunteered by members of the public about nuisance calls and texts using an online reporting tool hosted by Snap Surveys. This company is a data processor for the ICO and only processes personal information in line with our instructions.
while SnapSurveys’ privacy policy explains that
Snap Surveys NH, Inc. complies with the U.S. – E.U. Safe Harbor framework
This does not unambiguously say that SnapSurveys are transferring the personal data of those submitting reports to the ICO to the US under Safe Harbor – it is possible that the ICO has set up some bespoke arrangement with its processor, under which they process that specific ICO data within the European Economic Area – but it strongly suggests it.
It is understandable that a certain amount of regulatory leeway and leniency be offered to data controllers who have relied on Safe Harbor until now – to that extent I agree with the light-touch approach of the ICO. But if it is really the case that peoples’ personal data are actually being transferred by the regulator to the US, three weeks after the European Commission decision of 2000 that Safe Harbor provided adequate protection was struck down, serious issues arise. I will be asking the ICO for confirmation about this, and whether, if it is indeed making these transfers, it has undertaken its own adequacy assessment.
The views in this post (and indeed all posts on this blog) are my personal ones, and do not represent the views of any organisation I am involved with.
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