As of September 27, 2021, companies relying on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) to transfer personal data outside the European Union (EU) must use the new Standard Contractual Clauses (New SCCs) when signing data processing agreements. As a result, it is time to update template data processing agreements to ensure that your company can meet this deadline.
Continue Reading Don’t Forget to Use the New SCCs to Transfer EU Personal Data as of September 27, 2021

On September 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) published a white paper co-authored by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (white paper)[1] which provides information on the safeguards under U.S. law to limit the collection of data from private companies by U.S. intelligence services. The white paper addresses concerns raised by the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) when it invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework (Privacy Shield) and imposed certain conditions on the use of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs).
Continue Reading U.S. Government Publishes White Paper on International Data Transfers Following Schrems 2.0 Judgment

Over the last few days, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and various Supervisory Authorities (SAs) across Europe issued statements addressing the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to invalidate the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework (Schrems 2.0). Below we summarize some of the main reactions.

The EDPB is working on a set of FAQs that will hopefully provide some level of clarification on key issues that companies now face. The EDPB is meeting on July 22 and 23, and we expect the FAQs to be published shortly thereafter. We will report on these FAQs as soon as they are issued.
Continue Reading Initial Reaction of European Data Protection Regulators to Schrems 2.0 Judgment

On December 19, 2019, the Advocate General (AG) of the highest EU Court (the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)) issued his opinion in Schrems II[1] (the opinion). Wilson Sonsini previously covered the key points of the opinion in our Alert of December 20 and now provides a more detailed analysis in this contribution.

At stake in this case is the validity of two key EU data transfers mechanisms, the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The SCCs allow companies to transfer personal data to any country outside of the European Economic Area. The Privacy Shield enables transfers specifically from the EU to the U.S.
Continue Reading CJEU Advocate General Confirms Validity of EU Data Transfer Tools

In yet another round of Schrems versus Facebook, on January 25, 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that privacy activist Max Schrems is a consumer with regard to his Facebook
Continue Reading Court of Justice Dismisses Privacy Class Action Against Facebook but Allows Max Schrems to Sue in Austria