The Schrems decision, the EU-US Privacy Shield and the necessity to rethink how to approach cross border personal data transfers at global level

摘要

The Schrems decision does not only consolidate the legal foundations of data protection in Europe, clarifying a number of important issues in the context of cross border personal data transfers from the EEA ; it can also really offer to the European and global community the opportunity to rethink how to approach information privacy and cross border transfers in a wider context, avoiding legal uncertainty and political resistances. Thus, for instance, the adoption of the system discussed above would allow the rules of data protection to be harmonised not only between the Europe and the US but also at global level, involving other big players. It would contribute to the development of a coordinated and harmonised international policy with reference to the protection of personal data that could not be otherwise realised in the short term by means of hard laws such as international conventions.Moreover, this system would also ensure free personal data transfers between member countries, on the assumption that the implementation of the recommendations would allow the jurisdiction of member countries to be recognised as 'adequate'. As a result, such a mechanism would increase the number of countries to which personal data could be lawfully directed. The Schrems decision indeed has the actual potential to stimulate the debate around this different approach, which goes beyond the narrow EU-US perimeter.