Cross Border Data FlowsTransatlantic Dialogues Series Wraps Up in Washington, D.C.
Last week, we completed a trilogy of Transatlantic Dialogues we had started with eco Association earlier this year on the critical and impending issue of the future of EU-US Privacy Shield.
Prior events happened in Brussels on February 7th, and in Berlin on February 12th. The final event was at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 22nd.
A video of the event is available here:
Throughout our event series, both organizations — eco and the i2Coalition — had the opportunity to engage high-level representatives from the United States House of Representatives, the European Parliament, and the German Bundestag, data protection experts, industry leaders, and the most relevant associations of the Internet industry.
We met because The EU-US Privacy Shield governs the protection of personal data transferred from a member state of the European Union to the US. For the Internet economy on both sides of the Atlantic, a consensual and long-term data protection regime is a necessary basis for any business model in which personal data is stored and processed across borders. However, the EU-US Privacy Shield has been criticized since its launch in 2016.
As the leading associations of the Internet industry in the United States and Europe, i2Coalition and eco are working to lead the discussion, relaying the experience and needs of their members on both sides of the Atlantic.
The organizations seek to establish long-term legal certainty for companies, while maintaining effective regulation that protects personal data. This is an opportunity to work toward alignment of the necessary framework conditions in the European Union and the United States.
Leaders from three member companies, David Snead of cPanel, i2Coalition Board Chair Frank Stiff of Cheval Capital, and Ram Mohan of Afilias, led us in our discussion on the Hill last week.
We were aided by Ned Michalek, Chief of Staff to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, and Melissa Froelich, Chief Counsel Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Prior to that, we received a briefing on Privacy Shield from Andrew Steele, Privacy Shield Administrator at the United States Office of Digital Services Industries – International Trade Administration.
We are grateful to our partners at eco, our members at cPanel, Afilias, and Cheval Capital, and our friends on Capitol Hill for making this event a huge success. We look forward to continuing our leadership on this important issue!