[co-author: Taylor Daly]
On Wednesday, December 9, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing titled “The Invalidation of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and the Future of Transatlantic Data Flows.” During the hearing, both Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) underscored the need to assess how United States businesses can confidently conduct data transfers in compliance with EU laws as negotiations continue to replace the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement.
The hearing included testimony from James Sullivan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Services at the International Trade Administration (ITA), who indicated that all teams in the ITA’s Office of Digital Services Industries have met, on multiple occasions, with members of the Biden-Harris transition team, and have prepared a transition memorandum on the state of play around the Privacy Shield. Peter Swire of the Cross-Border Data Forum emphasized the need to negotiate a