Cross-Border Transfer of Personal Data: The Example of Romanian Legislation

Abstract

This chapter outlines the Romanian data protection legal regime governing the cross-border transfers of personal data, both to countries located in the European Union (EU) or in the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as to non-EU or non-EEA countries. In addressing the Romanian legal requirements related to international transfers of personal data, a high level insight into the background of Romanian data protection principles and main rules applicable in the broader context of privacy proves useful. Although this chapter analyzes mainly the Romanian legal regime of data protection, with a special emphasis on cross-border transfer of personal data, a similar interpretation and application of the data protection related requirements may also be encountered in other European jurisdictions. While expounding primarily on data transfer related matters, this chapter also looks at how the EU Data Protection Directive (Directive No. 95/46 EC), as well as the relevant secondary legislation in the field of data protection, has been implemented into Romanian law.