The European Commission and the United States government announced a significant deal consisting of data transfers between the EU and the US. This new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework aims to repair and enhance the data protection bridge. This bridge connects the EU and the US. It fixes the issues communicated by the European Union’s Court of Justice when it rejected the original Privacy Shield framework in 2020.
The Privacy Shield Controversy
It has been more than a year since authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are in talks for replacement for the Privacy Shield. In July 2020, the Privacy Shield was declared invalid. It was a setback for Facebook and other corporations as they had relied on the framework for EU-US data flows. The European Union’s highest court agreed with Max Schrems. Max, an Austrian privacy activist contended that the current arrangement did not shield Europeans from US spying.
Microsoft Blog Post
Microsoft congratulated the European Commission and the United States government for reaching this significant milestone. They acknowledged the considerable effort necessary for this stage in a blog post. They also stated that they “will do everything possible to support these new measures and guarantee that the new framework’s core privacy protections are adequately implemented.”
Microsoft further stated that it is “dedicated to embracing the new framework and will go above and beyond by achieving or exceeding all of the requirements outlined in this framework for businesses. We will accomplish this by improving how we handle legal requests for consumer data and giving further assistance to individuals worried about their rights.”
Press Statements
“This framework exemplifies our shared commitment to privacy, data security, and the rule of law.” On Friday, President Joe Biden stated. He also stated that the smooth flow of data would “assist in the facilitation of $7.1 trillion in economic links with the EU.”
The new deal would “allow predictable and trustworthy data flows between the EU and the US,” according to the press release “Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated on Friday. He also stated that it will “safeguard the privacy and civil freedoms,” without going into any information about how it will work.
The arrangement will bring relief to Meta and other companies. Following the decision to discontinue Privacy Shield, several companies faced legal uncertainties on how they moved data across borders. Meta indicated that Facebook and Instagram might be shut down in Europe due to this issue.
Meta’s head of global relations, Nick Clegg, stated that the agreement “would give important certainty for American and European enterprises of all sizes, including Meta, that rely on exchanging data promptly and safely.”
Kent Walker, Google’s president of worldwide relations, also hailed the news, praising the EU and US for their efforts in negotiating the new framework agreement.
“People want to be able to utilise digital services from anywhere in the world. They want to know that their information is safe and secure when communicating across borders,” Walker said in an email.
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