Hi !
Due to the current geopolitical situation, weâre receiving many questions about whether it is still legal to transfer personal data to the US. This concerns whether the legal basis for such transfersânamely, the European Commissionâs adequacy decisionâis still valid.
As you may know, the adequacy decision is the assessment in which the European Commission concluded that when US companies commit to following the "Data Privacy Framework," it is safe to transfer personal data to the United States.
Or, in more legal terms: this would ensure an equivalent level of privacy protection to that in the EU/EEA under the GDPR.
This decision was challenged by French Member of Parliament Philippe Latombe in October 2023, who brought a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union. He argued that the adequacy decision should be invalidated for several reasons:
- The oversight mechanisms established do not meet the requirements for an independent and impartial court under the EU Charter.
- The United States does not ensure a sufficient level of protection for personal data transfers due to the intelligence services' bulk collection of data.
- The US legal system cannot guarantee protection against automated decisions as required by Article 22 of the GDPR.
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The Data Privacy Framework contains security obligations that are too weak.
You may have noticed that the Norwegian Data Protection Authority has referred to the judgment and stated that it confirms that Norwegian controllers may continue to rely on the framework and the adequacy decision as a basis for data transfers to the US?
However, the Data Protection Authority also emphasizes that the ruling is based on the situation as it was in 2023. This means that it does not take into account developments in recent yearsâso the last word on the matter has probably not been said.
In other words, the Authorityâs recommendation still stands: you should have contingency plans and a strategy for alternative solutions.
This is a ruling we believe is important for anyone working with privacy and data protection to understand.
Thatâs why weâre inviting you to a webinar where we will walk through the judgment together: Thursday, October 16th, 12:00â13:00 CEST
Register here!
I wish you a wonderful, privacy-friendly week-end!
Best regards,
Ida Thorsrud
Project manager national DPIA
This newsletter was translated from Norwegian to English with assistance from ChatGPT by OpenAI. While it guided our translation, we made independent editorial choices. Any discrepancies result from this combined approach.