Earlier this month, the European Commission approved the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield, a new framework to govern the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States in support of transatlantic commerce. Despite getting a stamp of approval, it is largely expected to face legal challenges and ongoing scrutiny.
While the shield is intended to assure confidence in privacy protection, the U.S. is poised to throw a significant monkey wrench into the terms and assumptions on which the agreement was made, leaving some U.S. and European leaders scratching their heads. Online privacy regulations in the U.S. are being turned upside down in the wake of the net neutrality debate thanks to the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial reclassification of Internet Service Providers as utilities under outdated telecommunication rules that aren’t a fit for a modern Internet. This new classification strips privacy authority from the Federal Trade Commission — the long-established U.S. agency overseer of privacy regulations on which the Privacy Shield was based.
