President Biden Signs Executive Order Implementing EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework To Facilitate Cross-Border Data Transfers – Privacy Shield 2.0?

On October 7, 2022, President Biden signed an executive order implementing the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. Announced in March, this framework replaces the Privacy Shield program that the EU Court of Justice invalidated in July 2020 with its Schrems II decision. That decision stated that the United States did not provide a level of data protection that was "essentially equivalent" to that provided within the EU because signal intelligence surveillance by U.S. agencies was considered too broad and EU residents were not provided with effective remedies.

The new framework is intended to facilitate the cross-border transfer of personal information from the EU to the U.S. in compliance with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The executive order specifically addresses the process by which the U.S. intelligence community handles the personal data of EU residents and responds to complaints from EU residents. Detailing the commitments made in the March