The US Supreme Court has effectively ended the decades-long independence of certain federal agencies. As a result, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the central data protection authority in the US, is no longer independent.
Schrems Demands Termination of Data Privacy Framework
Austrian digital activist Max Schrems, whose organization Noyb already brought down two EU-US data transfer agreements, is now demanding the termination of the Data Privacy Framework (DPF). The agreement took effect in 2023 and was meant to make data transfers between the EU and US compliant with the GDPR. One of its foundations was the FTC’s independence – which no longer exists.
The DPF obliges participating companies such as Google, Microsoft, or Meta to inform EU citizens about processed data and offer deletion options. If the legal basis collapses, companies without additional safeguards risk violating the GDPR. According to Noyb, there would then be no valid legal basis for data transfers to the US – unless companies implement their own protective measures under Article 46 of the GDPR.
Trump Administration Pursues Isolationist Course
The author of the commentary sees the decision as part of the autocratic and isolationist course of the Trump administration. While the US is tearing down important bridges abroad, it is giving its tech giants free rein to develop new products – without regard for data privacy. A national data protection regulation like the GDPR does not exist in the US.
The EU must now act faster to gain digital sovereignty. The author warns: The friendship between the EU and the US will become even more one-sided in the future.
Source: t3n.de
