EU and US: new data transfer agreement approved

In a much-anticipated move, the European Commission has given the green light to a new deal that facilitates the transfer of trade data between the European Union and the United States. This decision is of particular significance to tech giants such as Facebook and Google, which have faced legal uncertainties surrounding data transmissions in the past three years. These doubts had emerged following the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union to annul the "EU-US Privacy Shield", the previous agreement which regulated the exchange of personal data for commercial purposes.

Recognition of the USA as an adequate country for data protection

The Commission has officially recognized the United States as a country that guarantees sufficient protections for the processing of personal data, resulting in an "adequacy decision". This is one of the measures foreseen by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union, in order to determine whether a non-member country offers a level of data protection comparable to the European one. Prior to the termination of the EU-US Privacy Shield, data transfers were governed by this agreement and the Safe Harbor, both of which were subsequently blocked following a complaint by privacy activist Max Schrems, who contested the invasive practices of US intelligence.

The elaboration of the new agreement

The new deal comes after a period of negotiations between the European Union and the United States. Over the past year, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to limit the access of intelligence services to European data. After a period of adjustment, the US Department of Justice announced last week that it had met the requirements set out in the aforementioned order. Among the clauses of the new agreement, it is foreseen the creation of a body that will allow European citizens to appeal against US intelligence agencies if they believe that their data has been collected in an unjustified or disproportionate way.

The consequences of the new agreement: opportunities and challenges

The adoption of the new agreement will have significant implications for the large American technology platforms, which will be able to more easily manage the personal data of their European users, facilitating its transfer between the European Union and the United States. However, despite the potential benefits for businesses, concerns remain about the protection of individuals' personal data. The European Parliament has expressed concerns about the agreement, arguing that it could allow data transfers without adequate protections. Despite this, Parliament's opinion is not binding, allowing the Commission to proceed. Schrems, for his part, has already announced a new appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union, in order to try to cancel the decision.