There are many reports that the US and the European Commission have finally agreed on a new agreement for managing data privacy in US clouds. This is not the case. Most people who speak out on this issue have vested interests, including us at Storegate. What we all have in common is that we want clear guidelines on what applies. But the new announcement means nothing new. It is still not OK to store or share sensitive information (e.g. personal data) in American clouds (even if they store information in Sweden). What has been agreed is to try to find a solution and regardless of the position on this issue, there are some things that are important to understand regarding the implementation and sustainability of such a possible agreement.
Difficulties with agreement on US clouds
- The EU is calling for a new US law providing safeguards. Such a law can only be achieved through an act of Congress and it is considered very difficult to pass a law limiting the scope of US surveillance at this stage.
- Instead, the proposal is based on an executive order from the President of the United States. This is to be seen as ‘temporary’ as a new President can change such an order at any time. This is unlikely to be sufficient to satisfy the European Court of Justice and will most likely be rejected by the European Parliament and the EDPB.
Moreover, decisions have recently been taken that go directly against what is now being discussed
Complement with a Swedish cloud service
And now to our own self-interest… Many people talk about finding an alternative solution to the IT platform that the agency or company currently uses. It usually doesn’t take that much effort. You can easily supplement your current platform (which may include American clouds) with Storegate’s blue-yellow cloud to store, share and collaborate with sensitive information under GDPR and with protection against foreign laws.
