US, EU Agree to a New Data-Sharing Framework

As U.S. President Joe Biden continues his European visit this week, the U.S. and the European Commission, which is the executive branch of the European Union, announced that they have agreed in principle to a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, which officials say will foster cross-border data flows and address concerns raised by the Court of Justice of the EU in 2020. The 2020 decision, Schrems II, struck down the previous framework, known as the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which allowed firms to share EU citizen data with the U.S. The court cited concerns around data handling and subsequent surveillance possibilities by U.S. agencies. The ruling determined that the Privacy Shield did not satisfy EU legal requirements.