The need to sign a new agreement between the US and the EU is the result of the annulment of the previous two. This was the aftermath of Edward Snowden’s disclosure of how Americans use data for mass surveillance of people, as well as the court battles of Austrian activist Max Schrems against Facebook. Schrems argued that under European law, the data platforms collect about us should be processed in Europe and not sent to the US, where it may not be adequately protected.
For three years, this issue has been on the minds of tech giants such as Google, Twitter, Meta and Amazon, who were unsure whether they could send data on EU citizens to servers located in the United States.
The European Union allows data transfer to the USA
After long talks with the Americans, on Monday the EU worked out a new pact that will regulate the issue of data transmission across the ocean. The regulations come into force on Tuesday and are intended to ensure that the level of protection of Europeans’ personal data in the US will be comparable to that we have in the European Union.
As EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders explained, data can already flow “freely and securely” between EU countries and the US without “any additional conditions or permissions”.
As he explains, under the pact, US intelligence will be able to obtain our data from technology companies in a “necessary and proportionate” way and only when necessary to “protect national security.” Any European who suspects that the US authorities have obtained his data will be able to lodge a complaint with the established one Data Protection Review Court. It is to be composed of independent judges unrelated to the US authorities, and no evidence will be required to start the case, only suspicions.
The new footnotes – as it is not difficult to guess – made the American technology giants very happy. At the same time, they did not appeal to privacy activists. Americans are known for a rather lax approach to the use of private data of citizens, and the US still lacks federal laws to protect against misuse, AP writes.
Max Schrems himself believes that the new agreement does not solve the problem and is almost an exact copy of the previous ones. He has also promised to challenge the rules before the European Court of Justice as soon as possible and expects the case to be heard before the end of the year.
Source: Gazeta
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