Tag: international data transfers
27. July 2022
A German citizen brought an action against the European Commission (the Commission) before the Court of Justice of the European Union claiming that the Commission is involved in illegal international data transfers to the US.
The subject-matter of the action, which was recently admitted by the Court, relates to data processing carried out in the context of the web page “future.europa.eu”, a platform that intends to increase citizen’s engagement with the EU.
In his complaint, that was drafted by EuGD, a German data protection organization, he alleges, amongst other things, that upon accessing said website and by enabling a facebook login, personal data, such as users’ IP addresses, is being transferred to US clouds and webhosts. The action’s allegations of illegal transfers are also grounded on the Schrems II judgment according to the organization’s press release.
It should be noted that personal data processings by organs of the EU do not fall under the scope of the GDPR, but instead they are regulated by another regulation, that is, regulation 2018/1725 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.
Even though the GDPR does not apply to the Commission, regulation 2018/1725 does mention the GDPR in the context of international data transfers to third countries (e.g. recital 65) and it is not too far fetched to hold the view that the ruling contained in Schrems II will indeed extend to this regulation.
One should also remember Recital 5 of Regulation 2018/1725 that reads the following:
Whenever the provisions of this Regulation follow the same principles as the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, those two sets of provisions should, under the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘Court of Justice’), be interpreted homogeneously, in particular because the scheme of this Regulation should be understood as equivalent to the scheme of Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
The claimant also alleges that the Commission did not duly respond to his access request in which he requested information on the data processed and about the safeguards in place. He specifically alleges that one request was not answered properly and that the other one was left unanswered at first.
The action questioning the legality of European webpages that use US webhosts and enable facebook log-ins comes at an interesting moment in time. Not too long ago, facebook/meta data transfers’ compatibility with GDPR was challenged by the DPC when it recommended to halt EU-US transfers of meta products for failing to comply with the GDPR.
The founder of the organization that is assisting the legal action told EURACTIV “that if a restaurant or a bakery has to figure out a way to comply with the ban on data transfers to the United States, so does the European Commission, as there cannot be double standards.”
14. July 2022
On July 7, 2022, it became known that the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) had forwarded a draft decision concerning Meta’s EU-US data transfers to other European DPAs for consultation. Having to respect a four-week-period, European DPAs may comment on this draft or formulate objections to it. In such an event, the DPC would be given an additional month to respond to the objections raised (article 60 GDPR).
According to information available to politico, the DPC is intending to halt Meta’s EU-US transfer. The DPC is said to have concluded in its out of “own volition” draft decision that Meta can no longer rely on the SCCs when it transfers their user’s personal data to US based servers. In other words, even though Meta has implemented the EU’s SSCs, it cannot be ruled out that US intelligence services may gain access to personal data of data subjects using facebook, instagram and other meta products.
Following the striking down of both, the Safe Harbour Agreement in 2015 and the EU-US Privacy Shield in 2020 by the Court of Justice of the European Union, this draft decision seems to question the legality and compatibility of EU-US data transfers with the GDPR for a third time.
In this context it is worthy to consider a statement Meta made in its annual report to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):
“If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted and we are unable to continue to rely on SCCs or rely upon other alternative means of data transfers from Europe to the United States, we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.”
Despite the possibility of a halt of Meta’s EU-US data transfers, there is reason to believe that this DPC initiated procedure will be continued in the future and that it will go beyond the previously mentioned four-weeks timeline. “We expect other DPAs to issue objections, as some major issues are not dealt with in the DPC’s draft. This will lead to another draft and then a vote”, says NOYB’s Max Schrems who filed the original complaint to the DPC. Hence, it seems rather unlikely that an instant stop of an EU-US transfer will occur. Instead, we could rather expect article 65 GDPR to be triggered meaning that the EDPB would be required to issue a final decision, including a vote, on the matter.
With no concrete EU-US transfer agreement in sight and the ongoing uncertainty on whether the DPC will eventually succeed with its draft decision, this matter continues to be of big interest.
29. June 2022
On June, 23, 2022, the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) released a statement on the use of Google Analytics (GA) holding the view that the use of GA by Italian websites without otherwise applicable safeguards violates the GDPR.
Garante comes out as the third data protection authority within the EU that declares the transfer of personal data through GA illegal. Earlier this year, CNIL and the Austrian data protection authority delivered a decision each, both coming to the same conclusion, namely that the use of GA violates the GDPR.
What lead to this statement is that Garante had received a number of complaints. However, it is also the product of coordination with other European privacy authorities.
In its reasoning, Garante assigns a special role to cookies that help GA to collect personal data, such as the IP address, visited pages, type of browser, and the kind of operating system. Garante considers it as proven that personal data is being transferred to the US when using GA. Garante reiterates that IP addresses qualify as personal data and that the pseudoanonymisation undertaken by GA is not sufficient to protect personal data from being accessed from US governmental agencies.
Garante called on all controllers and processors involved in Italian website operations for compliance and ordered a period of 90 days to comply with their obligations under the GDPR. The statement further states: “The Italian SA calls upon all controllers to verify that the use of cookies and other tracking tools on their websites is compliant with data protection law; this applies in particular to Google Analytics and similar services.”
23. June 2022
On June 16, 2022, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) announced on its website that it had adopted guidelines on certification as a tool for transfers of personal data (publication is yet to take place following linguistic checks). Once published these guidelines will undergo public consultation until September 2022.
On a first note, these guidelines can be placed within the broader context of international data transfers, as envisioned by art. 46 (2) (f) GDPR. Further, the certification mechanism comes only into play when an adequacy decision is absent. As is probably well known, art. 46 (2) GDPR outlines several safeguards that may be resorted to in case personal data is being transferred to third countries.
One of these is the voluntary certification mechanism, as laid down by art. 42/43 GDPR, that allows accredited certification bodies or supervisory authorities to issue certifications, provided, of course, that controllers or processors have made binding and enforceable commitments. What the EU legislators hoped was to assist data subjects in quickly assessing “the level of data protection of relevant products and services” (Recital 100 GDPR) by way of certifications, seals, and marks.
In accordance with art. 42 (5) GDPR and guideline 1/2018 on certification, whereby the latter is to be complemented with the new guidelines, accredited certification bodies or supervisory authorities are competent to issue such certification. It is important to note that the previously mentioned accredited certification bodies could very well be private bodies which are subject to certain requirements and prior approval by the Board or supervisory authorities. The criteria on the basis of which certifications are issued are to be determined and approved by the Board or by the competent supervisory authorities (art. 42 (5) GDPR).
According to EDPB Deputy Chair Ventsislav Karadjov, these yet-to-be published guidelines are “ground-breaking” as he provides an outlook for the content of the guidelines. One of the most important aspects that will be touched upon are the accreditation requirements that certification bodies have to comply with as well as the certification criteria attesting that appropriate safeguards for transfers are in place. It remains to be seen whether these guidelines will indeed provide more guidance on those aspects.
30. May 2022
On 25 May 2022, the European Commission published guidance outlining questions and answers (‘Q&A’) on the two sets of Standard Contractual Clauses (‘SCCs’), on controllers and processors (‘the Controller-Processor SCCs’) and third-country data transfers (‘the Data Transfer SCCs’) respectively, as adopted by the European Commission on 4 June 2021. The Q&A are intended to provide practical guidance on the use of the SCCs. They are based on feedback from various stakeholders on their experiences using the new SCCs in the months following their adoption.
Specifically, 44 questions are addressed, including those related to contracting, amendments, the relationship to other contract clauses, and the operation of the so-called docking clause. In addition, the Q&A contains a specific section dedicated to each set of SCCs. Notably, in the section on the Data Transfer SCCs, the Commission addresses the scope of data transfers for which the Data Transfer SCCs may be used, highlighting that they may not be used for data transfers to controllers or processors whose processing operations are directly subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (‘GDPR’) by virtue of Article 3 of the GDPR. Further to this point, the Q&A highlights that the Commission is in the process of developing an additional set of SCCs for this scenario, which will consider the requirements that already apply directly to those controllers and processors under the GDPR.
In addition, the Q&A includes a section with questions on the obligations of data importers and exporters, specifically addressing the SCC liability scheme. Specifically, the Q&A states that other provisions in the broader (commercial) contract (e.g., specific rules for allocation of liability, caps on liability between the parties) may not contradict or undermine liability schemes of the SCCs.
Additionally, with respect to the Court of Justice of the European Union’s judgment in Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Limited, Maximillian Schrems (C-311/18) (‘the Schrems II Case’), the Q&A includes a set of questions on local laws and government access aimed at clarifying contracting parties’ obligations under Clause 14 of the Data Transfer SCCs.
In this regard, the Q&A highlights that Clause 14 of the Data Transfer SCCs should not be read in isolation but used together with the European Data Protection Board’s Recommendations 01/2020 on measures that supplement transfer tools.
29. March 2022
On March 25th, 2022, the United States and the European Commission have committed to a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework that aims at taking the place of the previous Privacy Shield framework.
The White House stated that the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework “will foster trans-Atlantic data flows and address the concerns raised by the Court of Justice of the European Union when it struck down in 2020 the Commission’s adequacy decision underlying the EU-US Privacy Shield framework”.
According to the joint statement of the US and the European Commission, “under the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, the United States is to put in place new safeguards to ensure that signals surveillance activities are necessary and proportionate in the pursuit of defined national security objectives, establish a two-level independent redress mechanism with binding authority to direct remedial measures, and enhance rigorous and layered oversight of signals intelligence activities to ensure compliance with limitations on surveillance activities”.
This new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework has been a strenuous work in the making and reflects more than a year of detailed negotiations between the US and EU led by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.
It is hoped that this new framework will provide a durable basis for the data flows between the EU and the US, and underscores the shared commitment to privacy, data protection, the rule of law, and the collective security.
Like the Privacy Shield before, this new framework will represent a self-certification with the US Department of Commerce. Therefore, it will be crucial for data exporters in the EU to ensure that their data importers are certified under the new framework.
The establishment of a new “Data Protection Review Court” will be the responsible department in cases of the new two-tier redress system that will allow EU citizens to raise complaints in cases of access of their data by US intelligence authorities, aiming at investigating and resolving the complaints.
The US’ commitments will be concluded by an Executive Order, which will form the basis of the adequacy decision by the European Commission to put the new framework in place. While this represents a quicker solution to reach the goal, it also means that Executive Orders can be easily repealed by the next government of the US. Therefore, it remains to be seen if this new framework, so far only agreed upon in principle, will bring the much hoped closure on the topic of trans-Atlantic data flows that is intended to bring.
24. March 2022
On March 16, 2022, Google announced the launch of its new analytics solution, “Google Analytics 4”. Among other things, “Google Analytics 4” aims to address the most recent data protection developments regarding the use of analytical cookies and the transfers tied to such processing.
The announcement of this new launch comes following 101 complaints made by the non-governmental organization None of Your Business (NOYB) complaints with 30 EEA countries’ data protection authorities (DPA). Assessing the data transfer from the EU to the US after the Schrems II decision of the CJEU for the use of Google Analytics, the French and Austrian DPAs ruled that the transfer of EU personal data from the EU to the U.S. through the use of the Google Analytics cookies is unlawful under the GDPR.
In the press release, Google states that “Google Analytics 4 is designed with privacy at its core to provide a better experience for both our customers and their users. It helps businesses meet evolving needs and user expectations, with more comprehensive and granular controls for data collection and usage.”
However, the most important change that the launch of “Google Analytics 4” will have on the processing of personal data is that it will no longer store users’ IP addresses. This will limit the data processing and resulting transfers that Google Analytics was under scrutiny for in the EU, however it is unclear at this point if the EU DPAs will change their opinion on the use of Google Analytics with this new version.
According to the press release, the current Google Analytics will be suspended starting July 2023, and Google is recommending companies to move onto “Google Analytics 4” as soon as possible.
30. December 2021
On December 17th, 2021, the European Commission (Commission) announced in a statement it had adopted an adequacy decision for the transfer of personal data from the European Union (EU) to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
An adequacy decision is one of the instruments available under the GDPR to transfer personal data from the EU to third countries that ensure a comparable level of protection for personal data as the EU. It is a Commission decision under which personal data can flow freely and securely from the EU to the third country in question without any further conditions or authorizations being required. In other words, the transfer of data to the third country in question can be handled in the same way as the transfer of data within the EU.
This adequacy decision allows for the free flow of personal data between the EU and South Korea without the need for any further authorization or transfer instrument, and it also applies to the transfer of personal data between public sector bodies. It complements the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EU and South Korea, which entered into force in July 2011. The trade agreement has led to a significant increase in bilateral trade in goods and services and, inevitably, in the exchange of personal data.
Unlike the adequacy decision regarding the United Kingdom, this adequacy decision is not time-limited.
The Commission’s statement reads:
The adequacy decision will complement the EU – Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement with respect to personal data flows. As such, it shows that, in the digital era, promoting high privacy and personal data protection standards and facilitating international trade can go hand in hand.
In South Korea, the processing of personal data is governed by the Personal Information Portection Act (PIPA), which provides similar principles, safeguards, individual rights and obligations as the ones under EU law.
An important step in the adequacy talks was the reform of PIPA, which took effect in August 2020 and strengthened the investigative and enforcement powers of the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), the independent data protection authority of South Korea. As part of the adequacy talks, both sides also agreed on several additional safeguards that will improve the protection of personal data processed in South Korea, such as transparency and onward transfers.
These safeguards provide stronger protections, for example, South Korean data importers will be required to inform Europeans about the processing of their data, and onward transfers to third countries must ensure that the data continue to enjoy the same level of protection. These regulations are binding and can be enforced by the PIPC and South Korean courts.
The Commission has also published a Q&A on the adequacy decision.
29. September 2021
In June 2021, the European Commission published the long-awaited new Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) for the transfers of personal data to so-called third countries under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (please see our blog post). These new SCC modules replace the three 10-year-old SCC sets that were adopted under the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and thus could not meet the requirements of the GDPR for data transfers to third countries, nor the significant Schrems II ruling of July 16th, 2020 (please see our blog post). The transfer of data to third countries has not only recently become problematic and a focus of supervisory authorities.
As of Monday, September 27th, 2021, these new SCC must be used for new contracts entered into after September 26th, 2021, and for new processing activities that begin after September 26th, if the contract or processing activity involves the transfer of personal data to so-called inadequate third countries. These are countries outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) not deemed to have an adequate level of data protection by an adequacy decision of the European Commission.
Contracts signed before September 27th, 2021, based on the old SCC will still be considered adequate until December 27th, 2022. For these contracts, the old SCCs already signed can be maintained in the meantime as long as the processing of personal data that is the subject of the contract in question does not change. The SCC used for these contracts must be updated to the new SCC, or other data transfer mechanisms in accordance with the GDPR, by December 27th, 2022. As of that date, all SCC used as safeguards for data transfers to inadequate third countries must be the new SCC.
30. August 2021
On August 26, 2021, the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published a document in which it indicated the intent to begin making adequacy decisions for UK data transfers to third countries.
As the UK has left the EU, it has the power under Chapter V of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) to independently assess the standard of data protection in other jurisdictions, and recognize certain jurisdictions as adequate for the purpose of foreign UK data transfers. This was announced by the DCMS in a Mission Statement including reference to international data transfers, “International data transfers: building trust, delivering growth and firing up innovation“.
“In doing so we want to shape global thinking and promote the benefits of secure international exchange of data. This will be integral to global recovery and future growth and prosperity,” writes the UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden and Minister for Media and Data John Whittingdale.
The UK has developed and implemented policies and processes for reaching adequacy agreements with its partners. So far it has identified 10 countries as “priority destinations” for these deals. The countries include Australia, Brazil, Columbia, The Dubai International Financial Centre, India, Indonesia, Kenya, The Republic of Korea, Singapore and the USA.
The adequacy of a third country will be determined on the basis of whether the level of protection under the UK GDPR is undermined when UK data is transferred to the respective third country, which requires an assessment of the importing jurisdiction’s data protection laws as well as their implementation, enforcement and supervision. Particularly important for the consideration will be the third country’s respect for rule of law and the fundamental human rights and freedoms.
The Mission Statement specifies four phases in assessing the adequacy of a jurisdiction. In the first phase, the UK Adequacy Assessment team will evaluate if an adequacy assessment will take place. The second phase involves an analysis of the third country’s level of data protection laws, the result of which will influence the third phase, in which the UK Adequacy Assessment team will make a recommendation to the UK Secretary of State. In the fourth and last phase, the relevant regulations will be presented to Parliament to give legal effect to the Secretary of State’s determination.
Adequacy decisions are planned to be reviewed at least once every four years, and may be subject to judicial review.
