EU Court Blocks Data Pact Amid Fears Over US Surveillance

Bloomberg, July 16, 2020

By Stephanie Bodoni and Natalia Drozdiak

Thursday’s ruling [by the European Court of Justice] will affect how non-European firms from Google to TikTok Inc. transfer data from European services for processing outside the region.

The judgment “removed from the table one of the few, and most trusted, ways to transfer data across the Atlantic” for large and small enterprises in both the US and Europe, said Thomas Boué, director general for policy in Europe at BSA | The Software Alliance, whose members include Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp.

But the court was focused on giving individuals more power to protect their data. It said people “must have the possibility of bringing legal action before an independent and impartial court.”

The judges also criticized US surveillance programs that may access bulk personal data being transferred from Europe to the US without any judicial review. The court said annulling the Privacy Shield “is not liable” to create a legal vacuum.

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Original Posting: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-16/eu-court-bans-privacy-shield-data-transfer-pact?sref=qIvhRzNd