The European Union (EU) has passed an agreement that allows tech giants such as Meta and Google to share data between the EU and the United States. It is called the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
Euractiv writes about it.
In October, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order introducing safeguards for the personal data of EU residents — limiting access to them by US intelligence services and introducing an independent compensation mechanism.
Last week, the US created a Data Protection Tribunal where Europeans can file complaints if they believe their data has been collected in breach of the principle of proportionality.
EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said the "robust" deal meant "personal data can now flow freely and securely" from Europe to the US.
Technology companies welcomed the decision.
The debate over the agreement lasted for three years. In 2020, the EUʼs Supreme Court overturned the previous government-to-government Privacy Shield data agreement over concerns that US intelligence services could monitor the personal data of Europeans.
However, privacy activist Max Schrems, who has twice filed lawsuits that have overturned two previous data deals, plans to challenge the new deal as well, arguing: "We need changes to US surveillance laws to make this work, and in we simply donʼt have them."
- In May 2022, the European Union fined Meta a record $1.3 billion because the company transferred data of Europeans to the United States.