The same day that France's privacy regulator ruled an unnamed company could not use Google Analytics without violating the GDPR, on the other side of the Atlantic, news broke that the CIA had been collecting bulk data on Americans for several years without a warrant.

The revelation could not have come at a worse time for the U.S., as the U.S. government and the European Union are reaching a late stage of data transfer talks, ironing out the deal that would replace Privacy Shield, the successor to Safe Harbor, which were struck down in 2020 and 2015, respectively.

Data privacy attorneys in both the U.S. and EU concur that the CIA news reinforces long-held European fears about America's heedless flow of data, capping off the French and Austrian Google Analytics decisions in a pronounced way. But they also point out that it may shape up to be a boon for EU negotiators, a way to leverage talks to make more demands.