The European Union and the United States agree in principle to a new data protection agreement

The European Court of Justice scrapped the “Privacy Shield” for data transmission from Europe across the Atlantic in July 2020 on the grounds that the level of data protection in the United States did not comply with EU standards. Above all, the judges criticized the US intelligence services’ far-reaching access to Europeans’ data.

This has created significant legal uncertainty for companies when transferring data between the USA and the EU. The Facebook Meta group has warned since the fall that the online network and Instagram will likely be shut down in Europe if there is no subsequent plan. Accordingly, the Business Software Alliance welcomed the basic agreement, as it would create legal certainty.

‘Privacy Shield’ was created in 2016 after the European Court of Justice struck down the previous ‘Safe Harbor’ regulation. In both cases, Austrian lawyer Max Schramms complained.

Data protection organization Noeep complained on Friday that it was merely a political advertisement and that a certain text was still pending. If the new agreement is not in line with EU law, it is likely that Noeb or another group will challenge that as well.