The issue of personal data protection is following an inevitable process of homogenisation and globalisation of its requirements, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention 108 and the OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Data Flows. Beyond the noble objective of protecting privacy, economic, financial and security objectives have emerged, creating a degree of data protectionism, making adequacy decisions a consequence of and a complement to economic agreements. The analysis of the economic, legal, institutional and organisational impacts of adequacy decisions carried out in this book is also, in reality, an assessment of the standard of protection of personal data and privacy by the various legislations throughout the world.