USA: Data Protection

(asked on 28th August 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of whether US data law ensures a level of protection equivalent to that provided by Article 47 of GDPR.


Answered by
John Whittingdale Portrait
John Whittingdale
This question was answered on 9th September 2020

On Thursday 16 July the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down its judgment in the case known as “Schrems II”. The Court invalidated the EU’s “Privacy Shield” adequacy decision and it is therefore no longer a valid basis for the transfer of personal data from the EU and the UK to the US. The UK Government intervened in the case, alongside the Commission, to support the validity of the Privacy Shield and is disappointed in the outcome of the judgment.

During the Transition Period, judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union apply to the UK. After the transition period, the UK will repatriate the powers to conclude its own adequacy decisions, on the basis of future independent UK assessments of other countries’ data protection laws. The UK cannot do such assessments until after the end of the transition period.

We propose to work with US and other stakeholders to support initiatives that reduce the burdens and barriers on organisations transferring personal data, unlocking the value of data within the modern digital economy, while providing trust and confidence that personal data is protected.

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