I can only describe the European Union’s decision as surprising, and I am sure that for many people this will mean a significant step backwards in terms of data protection of the citizens of the common European space. But hey, first the raw news and then the analysis, which I’d love for you to actively engage in the conversation through the comments, because this is something that affects us all very directly.

So the news is that the European Commission has adopted a decision on adequacy for the circulation of data between the EU and the US. safely and confidently. What does it mean? Translated into common man it means The European Union once again allows the transit of data between the European Union and the United Statessomething that many of the US tech companies that offer their services in Europe have been asking for years.

Recall that the Privacy Shield, a bilateral agreement between the European Union and the United States, was in force from 2016 to 2020 to allow this kind of movement. However, In 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union annulled this agreement whereas the US legal framework does not preserve user privacy to the level required on this side of the Atlantic. Since then there has been no alternative, leading companies like Meta to threaten to leave the EU, although it is true that shortly afterwards they had no choice but to say “where I said, I say Diego”.

A little over a year ago there were many signs that an agreement like Privacy Shield was unrepeatablesince the US legal framework changed to give more powers to the US government, including its investigative and spy services, to invoke the set of rules that allow access to private information that tech companies are required to comply with and to assign rights data of its users.

The press release of the European Commission does not avoid this point and states that the agreement «introduces new binding safeguards to respond to all concerns raised by the Court of Justice of the European Union. These safeguards include restrictions on US intelligence access to EU data what is necessary and proportionate and the establishment of a data protection appeals court to which EU citizens have access«.

President Ursula von der Leyen stated: “The new data protection framework between the EU and the US will provide Europeans with the safe circulation of their data and introduce legal certainty for companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Since I reached an agreement in principle with President Biden last year, the United States has made unprecedented commitments to create a new framework. Today, we are taking an important step to give citizens confidence that their data will be safe, deepen the economic link between the EU and the United States, and reaffirm our shared values. It shows that when we work together, we are able to solve even the most complex problems«.

I can accept that the new legal framework between the European Union and the United States, which allows the transit of data from the EU to the US and its processing on this side of the Atlantic, is based on a set of rules that are in line with European standards. I am concerned that we have already realized in the past abuses by both technology companies and American public institutionsand to be clear, in many of these cases these actions were placed very, very far from current legality.

I hope I’m wrong, but Personally, I believe that the European Union has taken a step backwards, and it is a big step in terms of protecting the data of its citizens, or rather, the lack of data protection. Once again, I recall that the European courts overturned the Privacy Shield, but it is because they also overturned its predecessor, Safe Habor, in 2015. our.

What do you think? Do you believe that on this occasion we can trust that the data will be handled as indicated by the European Union?