The U.S and the E.U have finally reached a new agreement in principle on a revised Privacy Shield transatlantic data transfer flow.
“I am pleased that we found an agreement in principle on a new framework for transatlantic data flows. This will enable predictable and trustworthy data flows between the EU and U.S., safeguarding privacy and civil liberties,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier today.
“Privacy and security are key elements of my digital agenda and today w have agreed to unprecedented protections for data privacy and security for our citizens. This new arrangement will enhance the Privacy Shield framework to promote growth and innovation in Europe and the United States and help companies both small and large compete in the digital corner,” said U.S. President Joe Biden during his visit to Brussels this week.
“This framework underscores our shared commitment to privacy, to data protection, and to the rule of law and to allow the European Commission to once again authorize transatlantic data transfer flow that helps facilitate 7.1 trillion dollars in economic relations with the EU,” he continued.
The European Union had been looking into Privacy Shield and other agreements that allow for transatlantic data transfers, particularly on how data from European users is stored and processed on US-based servers.
The Privacy Shield framework allowed for transatlantic data transfers. Data protection violations made the European Court of Justice annul this treaty in July 2020. The EU was also been probing Standard Contractual Clauses that allow for data from users in Europe to be processed on US-based servers.
These regulations almost made Meta which is Facebook and Instagram parent company consider shutting them down in Europe if they were not given the choice to transfer, store and process data from users in Europe on US-based servers.
This is a relief to other companies that were facing uncertainty on how to handle European user data.
However, privacy critics will challenge this deal in courts and it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
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