Abstract
On 16 July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued their decision in the Schrems II case concerning Facebook’s transfers of personal data from the EU to the US. The decision may have significant effects on the legitimate transfer of personal data for health research purposes from the EU. This article aims: (i) to outline the consequences of the Schrems II decision for the sharing of personal data for health research between the EU and third countries, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; and, (ii) to consider certain options available to address the consequences of the decision and to facilitate international data exchange for health research moving forward.
Highlights
This paper considers the effects of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) Schrems II decision—on Facebook’s transfers of personal data (PD) from the EU to the US—on the international exchange of PD for health research, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
We provide a more detailed overview of the Schrems II case and how the decision impacts the transfer of EU PD for health research purposes (‘Schrems II: the case, the decision, and transfers of PD for health research’, ‘Broader consequences of Schrems II for transfers of PD for health research’ and ‘Limitations of Article 49 options’)
The general data protection regulation (GDPR) offers a broad range of such justifications
Summary
This paper considers the effects of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) Schrems II decision—on Facebook’s transfers of personal data (PD) from the EU to the US—on the international exchange of PD for health research, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers would be empowered to engage in the international exchange of PD for health research with a minimum of legal obstruction under EU data protection law Such agreements could mitigate against the risk that future jurisprudential developments concerning substantively different types of PD transfer might impact on the ability to engage in health research transfers—as in Schrems II. The ethical principles which govern such approvals already seek to protect the interests, and fundamental rights, of research subjects and to balance these against the potential benefit of health research to society as a whole This scrutiny provides a precedent to limit and inform the policy measures suggested above
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