Early in February, the European Commission and the U.S. government agreed on a new framework for transatlantic data flows, which they are referring to as the “EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.” Lawyers advising clients with an online presence (i.e., almost all lawyers and almost all clients) typically have had little reason to be concerned about the agreement, or about the underlying issues that it seeks to resolve.
There are, however, significant practical reasons for lawyers—and clients—to care about transatlantic data flows and the Privacy Shield. That’s because, in the absence of this new framework, companies that transfer Europeans’ data to the United States—ranging from Facebook and Amazon to Google and thousands of other Internet leaders—risk being held accountable for violating European Union (EU) privacy standards. That risk could have led to a slowdown, or even a complete disruption, of those kinds of data transfers, which would have caused terrific damage to international commerce and the world economy. Indeed, until the Privacy Shield agreement is formally approved and adopted and all steps required by the new framework are taken, that harm remains a potential (and potentially substantial) risk.
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