(1) Pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC, Member States are required to provide that the transfer of personal data to a third country may take place only if the third country in question ensures an adequate level of protection and if the Member States' laws implementing other provisions of the Directive are complied with prior to the transfer.
(2)
The Commission may find that a third country ensures an adequate level of protection. In that case, personal data may be transferred from the Member States without additional guarantees being necessary.
(6)
The legal standards for the protection of personal data in the State of Israel are largely based on the standards set out in Directive 95/46/EC and are laid down in the Privacy Protection Act 5741-1981, lastly amended in 2007 in order to establish new processing requirements for personal data and the detailed organization of the supervisory authority.
(9)
The legal data protection standards applicable in the State of Israel cover all the basic principles necessary for an adequate level of protection for natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data in automated databases. Chapter 2 of Privacy Protection Act 5741-1981, which lays down the principles for the processing of personal data, does not apply to the processing of personal data in non-automated databases (manual databases).
(12)
The State of Israel should therefore be regarded as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data as referred to in Directive 95/46/EC with regard to automated international transfers of personal data from the European Union to the State of Israel or, where those transfers are not automated, they are subject to further automated processing in the State of Israel. Conversely, international transfers of personal data from the EU to the State of Israel whereby the transfer itself as well as the subsequent data processing is carried out exclusively through non-automated means should not be covered by this Decision.
(13)
In the interest of transparency and in order to safeguard the ability of the competent authorities in the Member States to ensure the protection of individuals as regards the processing of their personal data, it is necessary to specify the exceptional circumstances in which the suspension of specific data flows may be justified, notwithstanding the finding of adequate protection.
(14)
The adequacy findings pertaining to this Decision refer to the State of Israel, as defined in accordance with international law. Further onward transfers to a recipient outside the State of Israel, as defined in accordance with international law, should be considered as transfers of personal data to a third country.
(15)
The Working Party on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data established under Article 29 of Directive 95/46/EC has delivered a favourable opinion on the level of adequacy as regards protection of personal data in relation to automated international transfers of personal data from the European Union or, whether they are non-automated they are subject to further automated processing in the State of Israel. In its favourable opinion, the Working Party has encouraged the Israeli authorities to adopt further provisions which extend the application of Israeli legislation to manual databases, which expressly recognise the application of the proportionality principle to personal data processing in the private sector and which interpret the exemptions in international data transfers as in accordance with the criteria set out in its ‘Working document on a common interpretation of Article 26(1) of Directive 95/46/EC’ (2). This opinion has been taken into account in the preparation of this Decision (3).
1. For the purposes of Article 25(2) of Directive 95/46/EC, the State of Israel is considered as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the European Union in relation to automated international transfers of personal data from the European Union or, where they are not automated, they are subject to further automated processing in the State of Israel.
1. This Decision concerns only the adequacy of protection provided in the State of Israel, as defined in accordance with international law, with a view to meeting the requirements of Article 25(1) of Directive 95/46/EC and does not affect other conditions or restrictions implementing other provisions of that Directive that pertain to the processing of personal data within the Member States.
1. Without prejudice to their powers to take action to ensure compliance with national provisions adopted pursuant to provisions other than Article 25 of Directive 95/46/EC, the competent authorities in Member States may exercise their existing powers to suspend data flows to a recipient in the State of Israel in order to protect individuals with regard to the processing of their personal data in the following cases:
The Commission shall monitor the functioning of this Decision and report any pertinent findings to the Committee established under Article 31 of Directive 95/46/EC, including any evidence that could affect the finding in Article 1 of this Decision, that protection in the State of Israel is adequate within the meaning of Article 25 of Directive 95/46/EC and any evidence that this Decision is being implemented in a discriminatory way. In particular, it shall monitor the processing of personal data in manual databases.
For the Commission
Viviane REDING
Vice-President
(1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.
(2) Document WP114 of 25 November 2005. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2005/wp114_en.pdf
(3) Opinion 6/2009/EC on the level of protection of personal data in Israel. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2009/wp165_en.pdf
ANNEX
Competent supervisory authority referred to in Article 1(2) of this Decision:
The Israeli Law, Information and Technology Authority
The Government Campus
9th floor
125 Begin Rd
Tel Aviv
Israel
Mailing address:
PO Box 7360
Tel Aviv, 61072
Tel. + 972-3-7634050
Fax + 972-2-6467064
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.justice.gov.il/MOJEng/RashutTech/default.htm
