Dr. Thomas Gennert wrote this bylined article to examine a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling which held that a “safe harbor” rule governing safety of data transfer to the US was invalid, and that national data protection authorities must examine independently the extent to which the transfer of personal data to a third country complies with European data protection requirements. The Court’s ruling, Dr. Gennert wrote, “can have far reaching consequences for many cross-border businesses.