Approval of Israel’s Data Protection Laws – Companies Can Now Transfer Personal Data to Israel

Israel became the seventh country to have its data protection laws approved by the European Union. This approval means that companies can transfer personal data to Israel freely, without breaking EU law.

The European Commission’s list of countries deemed to be adequate consists of Switzerland, Argentina, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Isle of Man, the Bailiwick of Jersey and Canada (as long as the recipient of the information is subject to the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act). Data can also be transferred to the US if the organisation receiving the material subscribes to the US Department of Commerce’s Safe Harbor Privacy Principles.

If the country is not in the list of “adequate” countries, then in order to transfer personal data outside the EEA companies must use one of the “model contracts” approved by the EU, or implement “binding corporate rules” to ensure that the data is protected.