White House Issues Executive Order On EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework

On October 7, 2022, President Biden signed the "Executive Order on Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities" (the E.O.), which outlines the actions the United States will take to implement the commitments made under the European Union-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) announced in March 2022. The E.O. and EU-U.S. DPF is a welcome change for U.S. companies grappling with compliance requirements under the EU's far-reaching data privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The GDPR requires a legal basis to legitimize transfers of the personal data of EU data subjects outside of the EU. Many companies previously relied upon the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield mechanism for data transfers between the EU and U.S. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union, in its Schrems II decision, invalidated the U.S. Privacy Shield as a legal basis for such transfers because the court found that U.S. privacy protections were not