back to article EU-US Privacy Framework could make life easier for a data biz, if it survives

A new EU-US transatlantic data flow agreement is expected to be finalized by the spring of 2023. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework will enable the flow of personal data from "data exporters" in the EU to "data importers" in the US who have signed up to the agreement. The Framework offers a flexible alternative to the European …

  1. b0llchit Silver badge
    Flame

    ...whether or not it survives the almost inevitable Schrems III challenge in unclear.

    Probably not.

    In the end, it would mean that you need to sue business(es) and the US government when data does a merry-go-round from business to three letter acronym agencies. That data will be swooped up is a dead given considering the track record.

    The real problem, even if you win a case in the US against a business and/or government (after a 10+ year procedure and appeals)... you still lost your privacy. You will never ever win back your privacy and any verdict enforcement will be your problem. That is the real problem.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Ageed. The suit needs to be against who you gave the data to in the first place and in the jurisdiction where the initial transaction took place. If the costs of that are sufficient deterrent then the data should never get within reach of the US, not even via the CLOUD Act.

      I still think a lot of small claims would be the best way to discourage them. Death by a thousand cuts. A small claims route means that even if they send a heavy weight lawyer to contest it they can't get their costs back if they win, they wouldn't be able to set a precedent so they'd have to defend them all or concede and if the sort of numbers which would interest a class action lawyer were to do that every year they couldn't really afford to throw money away if they were going to lose regularly.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Jail Time? Wayne Couzens?

        "I still think a lot of small claims would be the best way to discourage them. "

        You are kidding, aren't you? How about serious jail time (in the company of Wayne Couzens for five years)?

  2. Norman Nescio
    Headmaster

    A new EU-US transatlantic data flow agreement is expected to be finalized by the spring of 2023.

    Meteorological spring started in the Northern hemisphere on 1st March 2023.

    Astronomical spring in the Northern hemisphere started at the equinox, March 20 this year.

    You might be writing from a Southern hemisphere perspective, in which case:

    Meteorological spring will start in the Southern hemisphere on 1st September 2023.

    Astronomical spring will start in the Southern hemisphere at the equinox, September 23 this year.

    If it has not been finalized already 'by the spring', then you've missed the deadline for the Northern hemisphere. Given the article deals with entities (mostly) in the Northern Hemisphere, I suspect it is just sloppy writing.

    Please don't use seasons to indicate dates. They are location dependant.

    NN

    1. b0llchit Silver badge
      Coat

      This is politics which is defined in fractions of light speed. Your reference frame is not equal to the politicians' frame. The politicians' perception of spring is significantly different from yours. The faster they move, the more time they have.

    2. Dinanziame Silver badge
      Meh

      Considering both the EU and the US are in the Northern hemisphere, there is no ambiguity. Same as it's perfectly fine for public clocks to indicate the time without mentioning the time zone, even though the meaning of a given time is location-dependent.

      1. Graham Cobb Silver badge

        As Northern spring is well underway, and almost over, it is either ambiguous or just wrong. In either case, as El Reg has readers (and, indeed, journalists) in Oz, it is sloppy writing.

      2. Norman Nescio

        Considering both the EU and the US are in the Northern hemisphere, there is no ambiguity. Same as it's perfectly fine for public clocks to indicate the time without mentioning the time zone, even though the meaning of a given time is location-dependent.

        From the perspective of people who live in the Northern hemisphere, there is no ambiguity; but The Register has readers in the Southern hemisphere, and it is a continual source of irritation for southerners that writers, either through ignorance or sloppiness, fail to realise that 'spring' is ambiguous. The Register has a global readership.

        It is indeed perfectly fine for public clocks to omit the time zone, as they are not intended for use by people on the other side of the planet. A very small proportion of clock faces are visible from multiple time zones. An Australian does not look at the face of Great Clock of Westminster on the Elizabeth Tower of the Houses of Parliament to tell the time; and neither does a Parisian. They don't have 'line of sight', and would have to take special measures, such as a video-link, to see it. The Register's text is available to all via the Internet, and it has contributors from both hemispheres, as well as readers.

        So your comparison is invalid, and it is sloppiness.

        Northern spring has started. The deadline ("A new EU-US transatlantic data flow agreement is expected to be finalized by the spring of 2023") has passed.

  3. nematoad Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Living in a fantasy land.

    "The need for reform is questionable; while the UK GDPR may not be perfect, it is fit for purpose..."

    That means nothing to the head-bangers in the Conservative Party. Common sense, logic and plain self-interest has no part of their world view.

    Brexit to them is not a political choice, it is an article of faith and in the cult of Brexit nothing and no-body must stand in the way of "Taking back control"

    I don't know what it is about the sort of people that are attracted to the Tories. Cult like behaviour, fetishes and other symptoms of living in an echo chamber of the absurd seem to be the hall-marks of such folk.

    I'm old enough to remember the Wets and the Drys of Margaret Thatcher's time, so it's nothing new. I even heard a story where a group of Drys actually took umbrellas into a conference to "Keep off the Wets."

    And to think some people keep on voting these nutters into government.

    1. heyrick Silver badge

      Re: Living in a fantasy land.

      "I don't know what it is about the sort of people that are attracted to the Tories."

      A convicted sex pest that routinely parrots misinformation and straight up lies may well become the next POTUS.

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Living in a fantasy land.

      "That means nothing to the head-bangers in the Conservative Party."

      Not exclusively in the Conservative party - think Farage - and not entirely affecting the entire party. If you want an explanation all you have to do is remember that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. If you want to attract support all you have to do is conjure up an enemy without; it doesn't have to be an enemy without your country, an enemy without your trib is sufficient (think N Ireland). That will bring a host of the gullible who'll not realise that the power you gain (or "take back") isn't power they'll have, nor even power that will be used on their behalf. It'll quite likely be power that used to their disadvantage.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Delusional Description: GDPR Is Still A Joke....

    Quote: "...GDPR ... seeks to give individuals choice and control over how their personal data is used and imposes heavy penalties on organizations that fail to abide by the rules...."

    Link: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/03/google-deepmind-16m-patient-royal-free-deal-data-protection-act

    Dear James Castro-Edwards:

    About those "heavy penalties" you talk about....please take time to read the link to a six year old article in the Guardian.....

    Google/DeepMind slurped 1.6 million personal medical records.....no consent from any of the 1.6 million citizens.... IANAL....but this sounds to me like an egregious violation of GDPR laws.

    .....and no penalties at all....none in the subsequent six years. One example....but how many others have gone "under the radar"?

    Why do you think that there are plenty of people who think that GDPR is a joke....particularly funny are those "heavy penalties"!!!

    1. heyrick Silver badge

      Re: Delusional Description: GDPR Is Still A Joke....

      Downvote because that's not the fault of the GDPR. That's because the ICO is a toothless waste of time that is utterly unfit for purpose, coupled with a government that actively handed the data over (and thanks to the quasi religion known as Brexit, you can't even complain to the highest court in Europe). The whole bloody shitshow is rank, rotten, and decayed, and any revision of the UK's data protection laws will only weaken the "protections" that don't get enforced.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Delusional Description: GDPR Is Still A Joke....

        Correct up to a point but the real shortcoming of GDPR in both the EU and UK is that all it does is enable someone to make a complaint. There's nothing about pro-active enforcement in any jurisdiction, at least as regards individual give-aways. That's why we rely on Max Schrems.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Delusional Description: GDPR Is Still A Joke....

        > That's because the ICO is a toothless waste of time that is utterly unfit for purpose

        I couldn't agree more, unfortunately speaking from experience.

        Well I'd disagree with the "toothless" part, rather that the ICO themselves don't really want to take action.

    2. Pascal Monett Silver badge
      Trollface

      Re: Delusional Description: GDPR Is Still A Joke....

      You misunderstand politics, my good sir.

      It's not about following through, it's all about the noise you make.

      When campaigning, it is good form to invoke privacy, respect, the law and anything else on top of hugging babies. If ever something doesn't pan out, it's not your fault, it's the lawmakers who didn't do their jobs.

      And when you reach the lofty position of Prime Minister, you have more important things to occupy you than a piddling privacy agreement.

      But when you're campaigning, it's all gravy in the poll booth . . .

  5. VoiceOfTruth

    Funny. Very funny

    -> US President Biden signed an executive order, which mandates legal safeguards over US security agencies' use of EU citizens' personal data

    As though that means sod all. Really. Lawyers have their heads in the sand. It has always been so.

  6. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    It's just another kick of the can down the road. Once the challenge is going through the courts the work will start on a new form of words which has the same effect.

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