出版社：AHRC Research Centre for Studies in Intellectual Property and Technology Law
摘要：Contrary to initial hopes, the increased economic, social-cultural and political importance of cyberspace has led to substantial state regulation of it. Since nation states are still the dominant force here, the regulation of transborder data flows requires the cooperation of nation states which encounters many difficulties. These problems can be analysed along two dimensions. On the one hand, there are competing interests in the field of transborder data flows: economic interests centre on issues like cost-effectiveness; safety interests focus on the reduction of risk and the prevention of misuse; and civil liberty interests call for the upholding of privacy and freedom of information. On the other hand, national environments differ considerably, especially with respect to the values that inform political debate; the direction and mobilisation of interests; and the existence of institutions in relevant areas such as data protection. This paper uses these two dimensions to analyse two illustrative cases: one is the “Safe Harbor” agreement between the US and the EU that was meant to provide a framework for firms in the face of different standards of private sector data protection between the two areas; the other is the recent dispute between the US and the EU about the transmission of airline passengers’ personal data. The paper argues that these cases demonstrate that initial expectations for a “policy transfer” of EU privacy standards to the US did not materialise, and that differences in institutions and underlying values can largely account for this.
