Will Europe Force the US to Move Faster on Privacy Reform?

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On April 12th, the Irish High Court elevated a series of questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ, the Supreme Court of the European Union) regarding the validity of key legal instruments used by American tech companies to process Europeans’ personal data. Judge Caroline Costello of the Irish High Court is concerned about the national surveillance practices of the United States and the level of privacy rights observed there. The ECJ’s answers to these questions will probably disrupt transatlantic data flows in the near future, oblige American companies to re-evaluate their international data transfer practices if they wish to participate in the European market, and manifest (once again) that the U.S. needsto radically reform its approach to privacy protection. It has become increasingly obvious that passing privacy legislation in America is not only the right thing to do, but is also the business-smart thing to do.


Will Europe Force the US to Move Faster on Privacy Reform?