EDPB's Report On Government Data Access – The View From India

Introduction and Background

A lot changed on July 16, 2020, when the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") issued its judgment in Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Limited, Maximillian Schrems (C-311/18) ("Schrems II"). This decision invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield, on the basis that the national security laws of the United States of America interfered with the fundamental rights of EU data subjects and prevented them from equivalent protection as that offered in the EU. This set into motion a ripple effect that has altered the way data transfers are undertaken from the EU.

If surveillance laws in U.S.A are invasive, the question arises as to which other countries' laws are similarly intrusive, and if the transfer of EU citizens data to the said country should be restricted.