On Friday, March 25, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden and European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
announced an “agreement in principle” to
ensure the legality of personal data transfers across the Atlantic.
The announcement comes as welcome news to many businesses that have
been in legal limbo since the European Court of Justice
struck down Privacy Shield as a valid transfer agreement
in July of 2020. For example, Meta, Facebook's parent
company, previously
stated it might shut down its services in Europe if an
agreement could not be struck. Google has also
called for a new data transfer framework in the wake of
Privacy Shield's invalidation.
Extensive details of the new agreement are still unknown, though
President Biden stated during a press conference that the deal
includes “unprecedented protections for data privacy and
security for citizens.” The
fact sheet released by the White House states that the new
framework ensures that:
