The European Union aims to conclude a deal to allow businesses to seamlessly transfer personal data between the bloc and Japan by early next year, building on the recent agreement on a free trade pact. Cross-border data flows are key to most businesses, however, strict EU data protection rules forbid companies from storing Europeans information on servers in countries deemed to have an inadequate level of privacy, meaning firms have to rely on other more complex legal contracts. Yet, EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova has announced the EU is committed to adopting a decision to declare Japans data protection framework adequate by early next year.
