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EU-US Privacy Shield annulled by the European Court of Justice

On 16 July 2020, the European Court of Justice annulled the EU-US Privacy Shield.
On 16 July 2020, the European Court of Justice annulled the EU-US Privacy Shield.

On 16 July 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) annulled the EU-US Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield Agreement guaranteed that personal data transmitted to appropriately certified US companies was sufficiently protected.

On this basis, it was permissible to export personal data from the EU to these companies in the USA. However, following the annulment of the EU-US Privacy Shield, this will no longer be the case.

The ruling has no direct effect on Swiss companies; it is nevertheless relevant because Switzerland has a similar agreement with the USA.

Consequently, the EU can classify Switzerland’s level of data protection as insufficient, which would have a massive impact on the export of personal data.

Swiss companies are advised to cease exports of data under the Swiss agreement as soon as possible. Instead, they should reach an agreement with the importer of the data on the basis of a protection clause formulated by the EU Commission.

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