The EU and US remain divided over key elements of a proposed data privacy pact…

Date: 03/06/1999

...and may not reach a deal at an EU-US summit later this month as originally hoped, officials said this week. A European Commission spokeswoman said one of the key sticking points during talks in Brussels late last week was how much time US companies should be given to implement a set of principles designed to protect consumers' privacy which have been proposed by the US commerce department. The two sides have been trying to agree on a way for American organisations to comply with the Union's new data protection directive for months. If they fail to reach a deal, European-based companies could be banned from sending personal information, such as credit ratings, health records or buying habits, to the US.