The European Parliament Opposes the Forthcoming EU-US Data Privacy Framework

By‎ Adv. Dotan Hammer

Partner at the Cyber, Privacy & Copyright Group, Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz

Reading time: 1 Minute
Save to "My Content"

According to a draft declaratory (non-binding) resolution initiated by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament, the forthcoming EU-US Data Privacy Framework does not provide the required level of protection of information privacy and the European Commission should not approve it.

In December 2022, President Biden issued an executive order to promote the re-establishment of a legal mechanism that enables the free flow of personal data from the EU to the US. The European Commission subsequently published a draft decision that recognizes the adequacy of the proposed framework under the GDPR.

The EU Parliament’s draft resolution underscores that the bulk collection of personal data by the US security and intelligence agencies, facilitated by Biden’s executive order, may diminish public trust. The President’s order does not include a ban on the mass collection of personal information. In addition, President Biden can expand the national security objectives that warrant the collection of personal information, without informing the public. The draft resolution further emphasizes that President Biden’s order does not apply to a variety of other methods in which security and intelligence agencies collect personal information, other than through signals intelligence.

The draft resolution also criticizes the new quasi-judicial mechanism that the executive order established to investigate complaints about the processing of information by the US security and intelligence agencies. The decisions of the tribunal will be classified and not made public. In addition, the tribunal will operate under the executive branch, and not under the independent judicial branch. The draft also emphasizes that the United States has no federal legislation that provides for comprehensive data protection, and that the EU and the US have different legal definitions for key concepts in this field.

The draft resolution requests that the European Commission renegotiate the EU-US Data Privacy Framework to increase the privacy protections to a level equivalent to the EU.

Click here to read the draft declaratory (non-binding) resolution of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs of the European Parliament.