eolas Magazine issue 45

Page 56

data protection report

Schrems II In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued its long-awaited decision in the Data Protection Commission v Facebook Ireland case. The decision invalidated the European Commission’s previous adequacy decision for the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework and will have a significant impact on personal data transfers. The decision, colloquially known as Schrems II as it is the second legal challenge by the Austrian activist Max Schrems, ruled that “the Privacy Shield does not provide adequate protection” and the CJEU affirmed that it had found “for a second time now that there is a clash between EU privacy law and US surveillance law”. In the first Schrems decision in 2015, the Court invalidated the Safe Harbour framework that had governed EU-US personal data flows; Schrems II has now struck down Safe Harbour’s data protection-enhanced successor, Privacy Shield. The CJEU specifically

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invalidated Decision 2016/1250, the European Commission’s 2016 decision that Privacy Shield was adequate to enable data transfers under US law. The decision also contradicts three years’ worth of annual reports from the Commission affirming the stance of their 2016 decision. The Commission had in the past raised its own issues with the Privacy Shield, for instance it had consistently argued that a permanent ombudsman should be appointed to fill the role of tribunal as specified within Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

With the Court now ruling that Privacy Shield is insufficient to govern the data sharing between the EU and the US, over 5,300 participants will be severely affected. Two main reasons were cited by the CJEU in their decision, pertaining to the all-encompassing nature of US surveillance and the lack of action EU citizens can take against the US if they are adversely affected. Firstly, the Court found that US surveillance programmes are not limited to strictly necessary data, despite their assessment by the Commission, thus meaning that they do not meet the requirements of Article 52 of the EU


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eolas Magazine issue 45 data protection report

1min
pages 41-58

Political platform: Labour Party’s Duncan Smith TD

12min
pages 138-141

The Electoral Reform Bill analysed

6min
pages 130-131

Interview: Oireachtas Chief Translator Vivian Uíbh Eachach

19min
pages 132-137

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan explores universal basic income

7min
pages 128-129

European Commissioner for Justice queries Irish defamation laws

16min
pages 122-127

EU advocates greater tax transparency

3min
pages 120-121

Government CIO Barry Lowry explores catalytic impact of Covid

19min
pages 96-103

Sponsored by

20min
pages 90-95

User-led mobile policing

11min
pages 104-107

Remote learning and learning loss impact

47min
pages 68-85

Online learning snapshot

8min
pages 86-89

Preparing Europe’s Digital Education Action Plan

12min
pages 64-67

Education Minister Norma Foley TD discusses

10min
pages 60-63

Interview: Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD

42min
pages 18-29

Deploying RPA in the Health Service Executive

24min
pages 34-41

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe TD outlines economic challenges

10min
pages 30-33

discusses the transition to a zero carbon future National Service Plan published

10min
pages 14-17

A child-orientated approach to data protection

5min
pages 54-55

Schrems II ruling repercussions

5min
pages 56-59

Cover story: Bord Gáis Energy Managing Director Dave Kirwan

9min
pages 10-13

Vaccination roll-out adjusted

6min
pages 8-9
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