WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2020) The United States is reviewing a decision by Europe's highest court to invalidate a data sharing agreement over concerns about US government surveillance, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Friday.
The European Court of Justice on Thursday invalidated the 2016 Privacy Shield, saying that EU digital privacy laws were at risk of being violated under the agreement, which allows for data to be transferred, stored and processed in the United States.
"We are deeply disappointed that the Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") has invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield framework. The United States is reviewing this outcome and the consequences and implications for more than 5,300 European and US companies, representing millions of transatlantic jobs and over $7.1 trillion in commercial transactions," Pompeo said.
The top US diplomat� said the United States would continue to work with its EU allies to find another mechanism that would enable the "essential unimpeded commercial transfer of data."
The secretary noted that the European Union's decision directly affects both businesses of both sides.
Pompeo also stressed that both Washington and Brussels have a shared interest in safeguarding individual privacy and ensuring the stability of commercial data transfers.
"Uninterrupted data flows are essential to economic growth and innovation, for companies of all sizes and in every sector, which is particularly crucial now as both our economies recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic," Pompeo said. "The United States will continue to work closely with the EU to find a mechanism to enable the essential unimpeded commercial transfer of data from the EU to the United States."
The Data Protection Shield is the main mechanism under which US tech giants process personal and financial data of users from the European Union. Thursday's court decision is likely to affect the way in which they operate on the territory of the bloc.
The court's reasoning stems from the fact that US national security and law enforcement take precedence over personal privacy. The European Union has taken an increasingly competitive stance towards US tech companies' lax approach to digital privacy, especially since whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed mass surveillance operations of US intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
