EU unties the "bottleneck" of the transatlantic data sharing agreement

The EU says a new transatlantic data-sharing deal will come into effect from early next week, a move aimed at reassuring thousands of companies about transferring personal information between Europe and the US.

The European Commission said that a recent executive order issued by US President Joe Biden imposes additional privacy obligations on European citizens, so global businesses can safely transfer data under a new framework that includes responsible processing and deletion of personal information.

The transatlantic data-sharing deal is aimed at alleviating concerns from businesses on both sides.

In 2020, the European Court of Justice struck down the EU-US data-sharing agreement (known as the “privacy shield”), arguing that the rules restricting Washington’s access to data were not “equivalent” to EU laws such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Two decades earlier, the court had also rejected a cross-Atlantic data transfer pact.

The US is forced to find a way to restore the data-sharing agreement that would allow data from thousands of companies, technology businesses, banks, law firms and automakers, to flow easily between the two regions.

The Biden administration's new executive order adds requirements for deleting personal data when it's no longer needed, protections for sharing information with third parties, and the ability for EU citizens to seek damages if their personal data is mishandled.

The EU has carried out its own assessment and unilaterally decided that the latest US concessions are legally justified and provide sufficient safeguards, officials said.

“We want to ensure that technological advances do not come at the cost of Europeans’ trust. As close, like-minded partners, the EU and the US can find solutions based on shared values that are both legal and workable within their respective systems,” said Didier Reynders, the EU’s justice commissioner.

Meanwhile, activists and social organizations have criticized the agreement as flawed and threatened to take legal action if the new regulations come into effect. “The new agreement is not based on any significant changes but only on the political interests of the parties,” said Max Schrems, a privacy campaigner.

The US-EU data sharing agreement will be subject to periodic reviews, with the first round taking place within one year of its entry into force.

(According to FT)

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