EU says data privacy deal with US can be improved

The European Union says that the one-year-old rules governing data transfers with the U.S. are working well but that some improvements can still be made to the system to guarantee EU citizens' privacy protection.

The EU-US Privacy Shield agreement was imposed last year amid concerns of snooping by U.S. intelligence agencies on global data managed by U.S. companies. The EU's top court annulled a previous deal because it was deemed insufficient.

EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said Wednesday that "the Privacy Shield works well, but there is some room for improving its implementation."

The EU said it will be looking for better compliance monitoring by the U.S. authorities of their companies and raise awareness among EU citizens how to better defend their privacy rights.