Biden order improves data privacy for EU citizens
October 7, 2022
US President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order aimed at strengthening safeguards against data collection abuses for users in the European Union, the White House said.
It comes amid longstanding concerns in the EU about Washington's intelligence collection activities, as well as a barrage of European lawsuits against US tech giants.
In March, Biden had pledged to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Washington's commitment to the so-called trans-Atlantic data flows framework.
Friday's move is a step toward implementing the framework that creates a forum for legal challenges against data privacy violations.
Restoring trust
"This is a culmination of our joint efforts to restore trust and stability to trans-Atlantic data flows," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters. "It will enable a continued flow of data that underpins more than a trillion dollars in cross-border trade and investment every year."
Raimondo said the framework also includes "a robust commitment to strengthen the privacy and civil liberties safeguards for signals intelligence, which should ensure the privacy of EU personal data."
The European Commission is yet to review and ratify the new framework, but Brussels has already hailed Biden's executive order.
European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said the order "marks a significant step in our determination to restore safe and free transatlantic data flows."
What does the executive order mean?
Friday's order came after the EU's Court of Justice ruled that a previous US framework, known as Privacy Shield, failed to provide sufficient data protection.
Since the US dropped Privacy Shield in 2020, and amid piling EU complaints over comparatively lax US privacy rules, tech giants have faced uncertainty.
The new framework requires that Washington conduct signals intelligence activities "only in pursuit of defined national security objectives," taking into consideration privacy concerns regardless of people's country of nationality or residence.
It also establishes a redressing process for people in the EU "if they believe they are unlawfully targeted by US intelligence activities."
This includes the creation of an independent court and tasking a so-called Civil Liberties Protection Officer with investigating such complaints.
fb/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)