Privacy pressure mounts on the US as European court scuttles international data-transfer regime

MLex Market Insight

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4.9 • 9 Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2020

⏱️ 16 minutes

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Summary

The recent court success of European privacy activist Max Schrems has cast a shadow over the operations of companies needing to move data across the Atlantic. The European Court of Justice’s ruling that the “Privacy Shield” data-transfer arrangement between was invalid because of the surveillance risks in the US. It’s still unclear the extent to which the court’s decision will affect global digital transfers, however lawmakers and regulators will still have to scramble to find new solutions. The judges have also highlighted what is likely to remain a stumbling block for trans-Atlantic data exchanges: the absence of national privacy laws in the US.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello there, welcome back to Emlex's weekly podcast where we cover the big regulatory issues of the moment.
0:16.8	My name is James Panicki. I'm from Emlex's Distinguished Asia-Pacific editorial theme.
0:22.3	Thank you so much for joining us yet again.
0:25.1	Now, anyone who has had to deal with a transfer of data from Europe
0:28.8	would be familiar with the name Max Schrems.
0:31.8	The privacy activist has repeatedly taken his concerns over data transfers to European courts. And indeed, the issue has
0:40.1	just recently percolated through to the EU's highest court, and the decision by the judges
0:46.1	at the European Court of Justice is now likely to create major upheaval for companies doing
0:51.0	business with the EU. The court ruled that the so-called privacy shield,
0:55.9	under which data transfers had been occurring, was invalid. The decision has also restricted
1:01.2	the use of another data transfer tool, standard contractual clauses or SCCs. Today we're going
1:07.6	to discuss the impact of that decision and we'll cross to Mike Swift in the US in just a moment.
1:13.7	First though, I'm joined by Cynthia Crowett, a Brussels-based M-lex reporter who covers technology and telecommunications.
1:20.8	Cynthia, remind me first how this all began.
1:24.0	Yeah, well, this case is called Shrems 2.
1:26.2	So that means there's also a Shrems 1. So back in 2013,
1:31.1	Austrian privacy activist and lawyer Max Schrems, he filed a complaint with the Irish Data
1:37.1	Protection Authority saying that Facebook is not really aware of EU data protection laws. And
1:43.5	when it comes to sending data from Europe to the US,
1:47.0	and he filed that with the Irish Data Protection Authority
1:49.0	because they have their EU headquarters in Ireland.
1:53.0	And that case ultimately ended up at the EU's highest court,
	...

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