T
he US-EU Privacy Shield, which went live in the year 2016, is about to get in the situation of turmoil. It might be because of an Executive Order signed by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.“Privacy Act. Agencies shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law, ensure that their privacy policies exclude persons who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents from the protections of the Privacy Act regarding personally identifiable information,” reads Section 14 of the Executive Order.
The US-EU Privacy Shield is an authorization framework allowing US based companies to import and process the data of European citizens, but in compliance with the privacy norms set by the European Union. Currently, there are more than 1,500 such companies including Google, Facebook, Microsoft taking advantage of the privacy shield.
The Executive Order, which focuses on enhancing US domestic immigration laws, sets aside the privacy rights of the people who are “not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.”
It may introduce cracks and put questions on America’s role in the authorization framework as it involves the transfer of data belonging to the EU citizens. The order may also make it harder to operate for companies leveraging the Privacy Shield.
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