Negotiations on a key transatlantic data-transfer agreement have entered their final week, as US and EU officials work out critical points to ensure the safety of European citizens' data. Although talks have been ongoing to update the EU-US data-sharing deal since the Snowden revelations of 2013, new emphasis was added in October when the 15-year-old Safe Harbor framework was annulled by the European Court of Justice. The ECJ ruled that US government mass surveillance programs violated fundamental European data protection rights.