Negotiating a new framework for transatlantic data flows

On November 16, the Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) at Brookings hosted Věra Jourová, the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.

CTI visiting fellow Cameron Kerry joined her for a discussion on how to best negotiate and implement a new framework for trans-Atlantic data flows, given that the previous U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework was invalidated on October 6 by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Attitudes toward privacy issues are in a continuous state of evolution, especially given the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. The intricate legal frameworks within both the U.S. and the EU also provide challenges to quickly achieving a long-term solution. To reach a lasting agreement on data transfers, the U.S. and the EU must address issues of privacy, security, and economic opportunity at the same time. Commissioner Jourová stated that “All these need to go hand in hand. We cannot have a trade-off between one and the other.” Indeed, the same protections given to data transferred in a law enforcement context should also extend to data shared in a commercial transaction.