Successor Framework For Privacy Shield Has Been Revealed Bringing Long-awaited Hope For EU-U.S. Data Transfers

On Friday 7 October, President Joe Biden's administration published an executive order regarding a new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, i.e. the replacement of the so-called Privacy Shield mechanism previously allowing transfers of personal data from the EU to the U.S. Although the executive order, in itself, does not legitimise trans-Atlantic data flows, it is a beacon of hope for European organisations having struggled with U.S. data transfers since the Schrems II judgement in July 2020.

Put simply, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires that, wherever personal data exits the region of the European Economic Area (EEA), there must be an underlying transfer basis legitimising such international transfer of personal data. International transfers of personal data include actually transferring data for storage outside the EEA but also cases where EU-stored data is merely accessed from non-EEA countries. Such access is a common feature in many established