Privacy Shield Struck Down In Europe: What Companies Should Do Now

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the European Union's (EU) highest court, on July 16, 2020, struck down Privacy Shield-a trans-Atlantic framework that allowed companies to move data between the EU and the United States by self-certifying adherence to various privacy principles. As a result of the decision, the more than 5,000 businesses who relied on Privacy Shield must cope with the court's decision and reevaluate the legal basis for their transfers of personal data between the EU and the U. S.

Privacy Shield was created in 2016 to address concerns that the U. S. lacked adequate measures to protect the personal data of EU residents by giving Europeans more control over how their personal data was used. Privacy Shield also provided certain mechanisms to raise and resolve complaints relating to alleged violations of Privacy Shield principles.