Data-Sharing With EU Could Change Under New Commerce Secretary

The Secretary of Commerce in the next administration will be responsible for a data-sharing agreement with the European Union that is worth billions to the US tech industry. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for that post, Wilbur Ross, said he would uphold the deal, but he hinted that it might change in the future. There should be a “balance” between data protectionism and privacy, he said.

His comments at his confirmation hearing came the same day that an electronic privacy group requested that the next administration strengthen the privacy protections in the deal, fearing that US intelligence activities will hinder the free flow of data between the two continents. The United States currently has an agreement with the EU, dubbed “Privacy Shield,” that allows US-based businesses to send data to Europe without fear of running afoul of stronger European privacy laws. Privacy concerns continue to loom over it, however. At his hearing before that committee, Ross said he would commit to keeping Privacy Shield intact because it already exists and then added a cryptic comment about the future of balancing privacy and data localization laws.