Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the United States added robust commitments to strengthen U.S. signals intelligence safeguards in the Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities Executive Order.
The safeguards ensure the privacy of European Union personal data, according to an Oct. 7 Commerce Department news release.
“President Biden issued an executive order on enhancing safeguards for U.S. signals intelligence activities, which implements the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework announced by President Biden and President von der Leyen in March 2022,” Raimondo said in the release. ‘The EU-U.S. DPF represents the culmination of joint efforts by the U.S. and the European Commission to restore trust and stability to trans-Atlantic data flows and reflects the strength of the enduring U.S.-EU relationship based on our shared values.”
The EU-U.S. DPF creates a mechanism that enables individuals in the EU to seek redress if they believe they are unlawfully targeted by such activities, the release reported.
Privacy principles companies must follow get an update in the enhanced data privacy framework, she said, according to the release.
The EU-U.S. DPF restores an accessible and affordable data transfer mechanism for participating U.S. companies, the release reported. Current Privacy Shield participants and the Commerce Department will collaborate to ease the transition to the updated privacy principles under the EU-U.S. DPF. About 70% of the Privacy Shield participants are small and medium enterprises.
Raimondo will send European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders letters from U.S. agencies and documents that outline enforcement and operation of the EU-U.S. DPF, the release reported.
“The strengthened safeguards for signals intelligence, the new redress mechanism and updated privacy principles, will form the basis for the European Commission’s assessment in a new adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. DPF,” Raimondo said, according to the release.
