Personal Data and Transborder Flows Between the EU and the US: Dilemmas and Potential for Convergence

Abstract

This article analyses the current dilemmas and potentials for engagement between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) in their policies about transborder data flows. It cites the international treaties from both the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe to demonstrate the global evolution of the subject. It describes the Safe Harbor agreement and its downfall after the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) rulings in 2014 and 2015. Afterwards, it explains the General Data Protection Regulation rules about transborder dataflows and the Privacy Shield. The article demonstrates that the Privacy Shield comes along with many measures from the United States. However, despite this, the CJEU again considers this new agreement is insufficient to solve the subject about mutual protection of the data flows. After, the article briefly discusses the literature to assess the global expansion of the debate. The conclusion of the article examines the future possibility of establishing some federal agency to provide data protection in the US. This may come about from the strengthening of the Federal Trade Commission or by the creation of a new empowered body. Nonetheless, the next movement of both the EU and the US will be to find a solution to this issue, and that it will have positive global outcomes.