European Commission Adopts Revisions To Standard Contractual Clauses

The European Commission (Commission) issued updated Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) on June 4, 2021. The long-awaited announcement follows a 2020 decision by the EU's highest court to overturn the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework (Privacy Shield), which previously allowed for data transfers between the European Union and the United States (see our prior Alert). The publication of the revised SCCs will help global businesses comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when transferring personal data to affiliates and third parties outside of the European Economic Area (EEA).

The Importance of Standard Contractual Clauses
Under the GDPR, transfers of personal data to any country outside the EEA may take place if the recipient country ensures an adequate level of protection for data as determined by the Commission. Until last year, companies transferring data from the EEA to the United States were able to rely on the Commission's position that