Biden’s Executive Order On Data Transfers to Offer Temporary Relief for Advertisers

Jessica Lee, chair of Loeb & Loeb’s Privacy, Security & Data Innovations practice, is quoted in an article published by The Drum discussing the Biden administration’s highly anticipated executive order regarding transatlantic data transfers and its potential impact on U.S. businesses.

According to the article, the executive order would seek to address privacy and security practices of U.S. government agencies handling of Europeans’ data. “We are moving towards a solution, but we still have some significant hurdles to clear before companies have a long-term solution that they can rely on,” Jessica told the publication. 

Although things may be looking up for businesses that handle cross-border consumer data, “There will still be some uncertainty and chaos,” Jessica added. Particularly for many advertisers, who are weary of facing scrutiny on data transfer practices in light of the recent legal challenges Google Analytics has faced in Europe over cross-border data transfers.

Recently, the Italian data protection authority (DPA) banned Google Analytics due to its reasoning that collecting and transferring user data across borders via cookies is illegal. “Companies that operate at a global scale rely on the ability to transfer data across borders in order to serve their customers and their business. Recent decisions that have challenged even the use of … analytics tools – even when those tools are sharing truncated IP addresses and applying additional security measures to the data collected – have created a serious challenge for companies who are scrambling to find new solutions for these legal challenges.” 

“Many companies have been waiting for a legal solution [to questions about data transfers] via a new Privacy Shield, while trying to find interim solutions that will help them continue business while complying with the law,” Jessica noted. “But this… is happening in the middle of significant changes to the law in the U.S., new platform changes and all of the developments – the privacy rollercoaster – we have [witnessed] this year. Companies should be encouraged, but should be aware that there are still many months of uncertainty ahead.”

To read the full article, please visit The Drum’s website.