“Currently, unless a US CLOUD Act warrant is recognized or made enforceable on the basis of an international agreement, the lawfulness of such transfers of personal data cannot be ascertained” – EDPB/EDPS Joint response on impact of US CLOUD Act
Additional points:
- Urgent need for a new generation of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties to be implemented, allowing for a much faster and more secure processing of requests.
- Such MLATs should contain relevant and strong data protection safeguards.
- It is important to reach a comprehensive EU-US agreement on access to electronic evidence, containing strong procedural and substantive fundamental rights’ safeguards, to ensure the necessary level of protection for EU data subjects and legal certainty for businesses operating in both jurisdictions.
- Conditions under which U.S. law enforcement authorities could obtain personal data stored in the EU should not be more lenient/flexible than conditions for EU law enforcement authorities to obtain data in the EU. And vice versa so that individuals on both sides of the Atlantic enjoy similar safeguards and protections.