Data Flow Deal Talks Fail Due to Lack of US Action on Privacy

The agreement on transatlantic cooperation reached by U.S. and EU leaders this week did not include the political agreement the White House was hoping for on transatlantic data deals. Last week, EPIC and 23 other leading civil society groups sent a letter to President Biden urging his Administration to ensure that any new transatlantic data transfer deal is coupled with the enactment of U.S. laws that reform government surveillance practices and provide comprehensive privacy protections. “The United States’ failure to ensure meaningful privacy protections for personal data is the reason that a growing number of countries are concerned about trans-border data flows,” the groups wrote. “Until the United States addresses this problem, concerns about data transfers to the United States will remain, and data flow agreements are likely to be invalidated.” In 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor agreement. And in July 2020, the successor agreement, Privacy Shield, was also invalidated by the same court.