‘EU-US regulation on better data security takes months’

European Data Protection Supervisor (ETPS) Vojciech Viyorovsky says Reuters news agency.

Earlier, EU Commissioner Didier Reinders (Justice and Consumer Affairs) expressed fears that a legal settlement would take too long.

Strip door privacy shield

The European Commission has been negotiating new agreements with US officials for months. These are necessary because the European Court of Justice in July put an end to the so-called privacy shield, which restricts the transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States.

Under the Privacy Shield, US companies are allowed to process the personal data of European users in the United States. But the court ruled that European citizens are not allowed to go to court for privacy violations, for example, by the US government.

Max Shrems

Security services also have extensive access to this data. The lawsuit was probably initiated by Austrian privacy activist Max Shremes, who complained about Facebook processing his personal data in the United States.

But for now, we will have to do with the privacy shield, says Viorovsky. “I do not expect a new solution within weeks, probably not even months,” he told Reuters. The main reason for the delay is Biden’s entry into the government, which has other priorities.

Meanwhile, the EU is already working on plans for better data protection. Through internet companies the aim is to prevent Europeans from falling into the wrong hands outside of Europe.