Washington / Brussels – Today, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) published its decision on Facebook’s transfers of personal data from the European Union to the United States, ordering the social network to suspend its transatlantic data flows.
Since an EU Court invalidated the previous EU-U.S. data framework back in 2020, European and U.S. organisations and companies of all sizes have been left without clear guidelines for transatlantic data transfers. To this day, that uncertainty continues to affect not only companies, but also non-profits, charities, governments, and others.
Data flows between the EU and U.S. make up the busiest internet route in the world, and are vital to transatlantic trade. Yet, today’s decision to suspend data transfers from the EU to the U.S. ignores that reality. It effectively makes the way the internet works illegal, from video conferencing and browsing the internet, to the processing of online payments.
President Biden signed an Executive Order last fall, introducing new data protection safeguards for European citizens. These should pave the way for a new and strengthened EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. However, both sides of the Atlantic still need to finalise the framework before it can come into force.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association now calls on the U.S. government and EU Member States to take the necessary steps to implement the framework with urgency, restoring legal certainty after almost three years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“To keep data flowing between the U.S. and EU, and to preserve the strength of our mutually beneficial trading relationship, prompt implementation of President Biden’s Executive Order is vital. We look forward to the U.S. administration swiftly completing the implementation of all privacy safeguards and redress mechanisms that the Executive Order seeks to introduce.”
The following can be attributed to CCIA Europe’s Public Policy Director, Alexandre Roure:
“Today’s legal uncertainty will continue to persist as long as this new data transfer mechanism has not been formally approved by EU Member States. We call on the 27 EU national governments to approve the Commission’s adequacy decision without delay.”
