The European Union and the US have agreed on a new transatlantic data sharing pact. In a statement on Mondaythe European Commission says the new framework should allow information to flow freely between both locations, reducing risks for social media companies operating in both locations.
The decision comes three years after the EU’s highest court struck down the Privacy Shield, a protocol that allows US-based companies to collect and process data from EU citizens. At the time, the court said the Privacy Shield was not doing enough to keep users’ data out of the hands of US intelligence agencies. This was a blow to companies like Meta and Amazon, as data collection is an essential part of their business.
When this policy was annulled, companies were left to comply with EU data transfer policies. Earlier this year, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Meta a record $1.3 billion for data transfers to the US for failing to address “the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms” of citizens in the EU to grab. In 2021, Luxembourg’s National Data Protection Commission fined Amazon $887 million for handling data belonging to EU residents.
The new EU-US data privacy framework should protect companies from similar penalties, as long as they commit to it. In addition to limiting the amount of foreign data that U.S. intelligence agencies can access, the new framework establishes a Data Protection Review Court (DPRC) that can “independently investigate and resolve complaints” and order data deletion.
US companies will also have to comply with a range of privacy obligations, including a requirement to delete personal data “when it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected”. They must also ensure that these safeguards are in place when this data is shared with third parties.
“The new EU-US data privacy framework will ensure secure data flows for Europeans and legal certainty for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, in a statement. “Following the agreement in principle I reached with President Biden last year, the US has made unprecedented commitments to establish the new framework.”
Going forward, it is not clear whether this policy will hold up in the EU court, as two previous attempts to establish a new framework were rejected by judges. Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, responded to the news on Twitter: stating that the company welcomes the new framework, noting that it will “protect the goods and services that people and businesses rely on on both sides of the Atlantic”.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.