BRUSSELS – August 24, 2021 – Data transfers between the European Union and the United States are critical to job and economic growth, and to providing vital services, on both sides of the Atlantic. Data transfers enable the success of each industry represented by the Global Data Alliance, as well as government entities and companies in other sectors. Indeed, companies of all sizes and in every sector of the economy – from manufacturing and farming to aviation and logistics – must send data across international borders to provide the services businesses and their consumers expect.

The EU-US Privacy Shield was an important mechanism for Transatlantic data transfers, and still provides important and enforceable data protection commitments. Other transfer mechanisms, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), also provide a high level of protection – and, indeed, can offer protections through company commitments that exceed what is required under the Privacy Shield.

Nonetheless, the uncertainty surrounding the use of SCCs in the absence of an enhanced Privacy Shield is impeding job and economic growth at an important time for both the EU and the US. Companies in all sectors, along with government entities and consumers, suffer from any uncertainty in both how data is protected and the services that can be used. An enhanced Privacy Shield agreement would eliminate this uncertainty.

We appreciate that President Biden and President von der Leyen have committed to working together on this issue. By reaching an enhanced Privacy Shield agreement, like-minded democracies can demonstrate that their shared leadership on digital privacy and security issues yields concrete results. We urge the US and the EU to make reaching this agreement a priority. We are confident that an enhanced Privacy Shield will enable closer and further coordination on a range of critical technology issues.