“The data protection issue is a long-term saga”

LOn October 7, the President of the United States signed an executive order to oversee the transfer of personal data between the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean. This is a decisive step in terms of data protection – a particularly sensitive issue for Europeans – and it follows a commitment by the US to resume a series of negotiations in this area in March.

The question of data protection is indeed a long-standing one. Twice, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (decision ” Safe harbor End of 2015 Privacy Shield “In 2020 – Also known as “Schrems I and Schrems II” results, named after the German activist Max Schrems, which took legal action over treaties deemed insufficiently protective of Europeans’ privacy) broke the imagined system between Europeans and Americans. This has caused considerable difficulties and uncertainty for all companies – American and European.

In this context, what does this text propose in response to European fears of the disproportionate use of state reason by US intelligence services to access data of a personal nature? Monitoring, renders to the text, can only be implemented basically “Verified Intelligence Priority” And in a way “Proportionate”.

Necessary proportionality

An appeals mechanism – absent from previously envisioned mechanisms – is proposed at two levels: a hearing could be held to determine whether the services of the director of national intelligence are complying with the mandate; A special review court dedicated to the regulation of data protection, independent but placed under the authority of the Attorney General of the United States, can hear the appeal.

These developments are substantial. Of course, as always, the devil is in the details. But a few ideas will inspire confidence. Let us first observe the reaction of the concerned European authorities.

The commissioner in charge of these questions, Didier Reynders, gave a very favorable reception to the American proposal. Is it diplomacy? Obviously. But it is not forbidden to see a form of honesty in it. Because if that is the trademark of this authority, it must fight against authority Large American corporations Digital – along with environmental issues with the Green Deal – is at the forefront of its concerns. He can therefore be expected to view any American proposal in this area with suspicion.

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