How to Build Back Better the Transatlantic Data Relationship

Cross-border data transfers—involving both personal and non-personal data—enable firms to engage in transatlantic commerce and allow governments to conduct regulatory oversight, investigate crimes, protect national security, and more.

The European Union’s (EU’s) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was supposed to bring a more predictable and harmonized approach to data protection within the EU and provide a range of tools for firms to transfer EU personal data overseas. Instead, transatlantic data flows have become more difficult and more complex.