United States and European Union leaders said on Friday they had reached an “agree in principle” to ensure it is legal to transfer personal data across the Atlantic, after a previous pact was broken when a court found it was illegal to transfer personal data across the Atlantic. didn’t do enough to protect. Europeans from US surveillance programs.
President Biden said at a news conference in Brussels that the agreement included “unprecedented data privacy and security protections for our citizens.” But the details of the new agreement were not released. A European court has partially invalidated the previous data transfer legal framework because it gave Europeans insufficient means to complain if they believe their privacy rights have been violated.
Companies that send data from the European Union to US servers have pushed governments hard to reach a new deal. Since the last pact was signed more than 18 months ago, regulators in European countries have said that companies should not use certain web services, such as Google Analytics and Mailchimp, as it could violate Europeans’ privacy rights.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said earlier this year it could close its services in Europe if governments don’t resolve their disputes. Google’s top attorney had urged “quick action to restore a practical framework that both protects privacy and promotes prosperity”.
Friday’s announcement is the latest in a lengthy debate about how far governments and tech companies should go to protect user privacy. The European Supreme Court has twice rejected pacts regulating transatlantic data flows between the United States and the European Union over concerns that the data would be exposed to US surveillance programs.
“As concerns about global internet fragmentation mount, this agreement will help keep people connected and services running,” said Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs. “It will provide invaluable security for US and European companies of all sizes, including Meta, who rely on fast and secure transfers of data.”
But it was unclear whether the new pact would be enough to address the concerns of privacy activists. Max Schrems, an activist whose group Noyb (as in: “none of your business”) has led to attempts to invalidate the transatlantic agreements, said in a statement that he was skeptical of the deal and that his organization would not disclose details. would analyze carefully.
“If it doesn’t comply with EU law, we or another group will probably challenge it,” he said.
