Bad News, Europe: EC Will Stand By 'Safe Harbor' Deal Privacy from Companies7/30/2000; 12:21:42 PM 'The European Commission announced Thursday that it will move ahead with the data-privacy deal it hashed out with the U.S., despite the objections of the European Parliament that the deal was too weak. The commission said the deal would take effect by November for U.S. sites that electronically gather personal data from European visitors. 'Under the terms of the U.S.-EC agreement, negotiated over two years by the commission and the U.S. Department Commerce, many U.S. companies that want to continue transferring personal data from Europe must commit to respecting detailed standards of notice, user choice, data access and security. Making that commitment will put the companies into "safe harbor" against regulation under the EU's omnibus Data Protection Directive, which has been in effect in the EU's 15 member nations since October 1998.'Europe to US Companies: "We trust you!"? Who'da thunk it?