Storing EU Customer Data in the U.S. is Legal

From ARMA's InformationOverload blog:

Nikki Sandison reported for Marketing Direct, "The European Commission has confirmed that it is legal under EU data protection law to store customer data in the US - as long as a Safe Harbor certification is in place. European organisations and companies have been concerned about the US's Patriot Act, which grants federal officials the right to inspect any data stored in the U.S. if it relates to a national security investigation." However, "The issue is not simply with the Patriot Act but that the concern was that 'companies within the EU could collect personal data about individuals and export this data to countries outside of the EU having lesser standards of data protection, using this as a means to circumvent EU data/protection requirements,'' this article said, quoting Phil Lee, senior solicitor at Osbourne Clarke's data privacy team.