The European Union has approached a renewed agreement on transatlantic data transfers aimed at addressing US espionage concerns, with a draft resolution endorsing “guarantees comparable to those in the EU with strict privacy rules”.

The EU’s executive commission released the draft resolution ratifying the deal on Tuesday; This is the result of a groundbreaking interim agreement signed in March between Brussels and Washington to resolve a years-long battle over the privacy of EU citizens’ data that companies routinely store in the US.

The breakthrough has been welcomed by business groups, who say it will give confidence to thousands of companies, including tech giants like Google and Facebook, who send data between Europe, where stricter data privacy rules, and the relatively lax US. It is not a comprehensive federal system. privacy law. Discussions over the transfer have raised the possibility that companies may need to keep European data outside of the US.

“We are confident now that we can move on to the next step of the adoption procedure. Our analysis has shown that the United States now has strong safeguards that allow for the secure transfer of personal data between the two sides of the Atlantic,” said Didier Reynders. The framework “will help protect citizens’ privacy while providing legal certainty for businesses,” the framework said.

The renewed agreement, ratified by an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in October, sets limits on US intelligence-gathering coverage and provides a forum for European legal objections. The deal still needs approval from the EU’s privacy regulator, the bloc’s 27 member states and the European Parliament. Source