On Wednesday, December 9, the Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee held a hearing titled “The
Invalidation of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and the Future of
Transatlantic Data Flows.” During the hearing, both Chairman
Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
underscored the need to assess how United States businesses can
confidently conduct data transfers in compliance with EU laws as
negotiations continue to replace the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
agreement.
The hearing included testimony from James Sullivan, Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Services at the International Trade
Administration (ITA), who indicated that all teams in the
ITA's Office of Digital Services Industries have met, on
multiple occasions, with members of the Biden-Harris transition
team, and have prepared a transition memorandum on the state of
play around the Privacy Shield. Peter Swire of the Cross-Border
Data Forum emphasized the need to negotiate a short-term
