The New Adequacy Decision For EU-US Data Transfers

On July 10, 2023, the European Union ("EU")-United States of America ("US") adequacy decision for adequate level of protection regarding the transfer of personal data under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework ("DPF") was formally adopted by the European Commission. Thus, personal data transfers between the EU and the US now have a full-fledged legitimate base, and the DPF is influential in terms of recognizing the US as a country satisfying the adequate level of protection criteria stipulated under the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union ("GDPR"). In short, the DPF establishes a "data bridge" between the EU and the US in the data privacy framework.

As early as 2000, the US and the EU entered into the Safe Harbor Agreement ("Agreement"), which governed data transfers to and from the US. The Agreement was supplanted in 2016 by the "EU-US Privacy Shield", which was replaced again with the DPF. The DPF is the only fully stable legal basis for