Security News > 2023 > July > European Commission adopts adequacy decision for safe EU-U.S. data flows

Today, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

The EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework introduces new binding safeguards to address all the concerns raised by the European Court of Justice, including limiting access to EU data by US intelligence services to what is necessary and proportionate, and establishing a Data Protection Review Court, to which EU individuals will have access.

President Ursula von der Leyen said: "The new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework will ensure safe data flows for Europeans and bring legal certainty to companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Following the agreement in principle I reached with President Biden last year, the US has implemented unprecedented commitments to establish the new framework. Today we take an important step to provide trust to citizens that their data is safe, to deepen our economic ties between the EU and the US, and at the same time to reaffirm our shared values. It shows that by working together, we can address the most complex issues."

Article 45(3) of the General Data Protection Regulation grants the Commission the power to decide, by means of an implementing act, that a non-EU country ensures 'an adequate level of protection' - a level of protection for personal data that is essentially equivalent to the level of protection within the EU. The effect of adequacy decisions is that personal data can flow freely from the EU to a third country without further obstacles.

"An adequate protection of our personal data is a fundamental right, and one whose importance only continues to grow in our day-to-day lives. Today's decision is the result of intense cooperation with our partners in the US, working together to ensure that Europeans' data travels safely, wherever it goes. The new adequacy decision will provide legal certainty for businesses and will help further consolidate the EU as a powerful player in transatlantic markets, while remaining uncompromising on respecting fundamental right of Europeans for their data to be always protected," said Věra Jourová, European Commission VP for Values and Transparency.

"The adoption of this adequacy decision is the final step to ensure safe and free transfers of data across the Atlantic. It ensures the protection of individual rights in our intangible and interconnected digital world, where physical borders do not matter much anymore. Since the Schrems II decision came out years ago, I have worked tirelessly with my US counterparts to address the concerns identified by the Court of Justice, and ensure that technological advances do not come at the cost of Europeans' trust. But as close like-minded-partners, the EU and the US could find solutions, based on their shared values, that are both lawful and workable in their respective systems," said Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice.

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/11/eu-us-data-privacy-framework/