US Supreme Court Just Blew Up EU-US Data Transfers
2 hours ago
- #Supreme Court Ruling
- #FTC Independence
- #EU-US Data Privacy
- US Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Slaughter deems FTC's independence unconstitutional, impacting EU-US data privacy framework.
- EU law requires independent oversight for data protection; FTC was relied on 259 times in EU-US deal for 'essentially equivalent' protections.
- CJEU previously annulled two EU-US data deals (Safe Harbour, Privacy Shield) due to US surveillance laws and lack of judicial remedies.
- EU-US Data Privacy Framework (2023) is similar to annulled deals; its structure collapses without FTC independence.
- US 'Data Protection Review Court' lacks true independence as an executive body under Biden's executive order, vulnerable to change.
- Supreme Court's 'unitary executive' theory challenges all independent US agencies, not just FTC, affecting data transfer assessments.
- European Commission must formally repeal or CJEU annul the EU-US deal; no immediate effect but SCCs and BCRs also impacted.
- noyb calls for orderly withdrawal of adequacy decision and plans lawsuit, while Article 49 GDPR allows necessary but not structural data transfers.
- EU member states moving towards digital sovereignty; US pressure persists, but legal challenges may take 2-3 years for final decision.