WASHINGTON– March 12, 2024 – The Global Data Alliance (GDA) supports the decision of the European Commission to explore “avenues to maximise safe data flows as a network” at an inaugural high-level meeting on safe data flows among the EU and 15 economies for which the EU has adopted an adequacy decision. This includes Argentina, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Uruguay, the EU, UK, and the US (among others).
As stated by EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, “[s]afe data flows are the backbone of the digital economy. They underpin international trade and many other forms of international cooperation. They significantly contribute to innovation and research and development across sector, including health.”
Cross-border access to knowledge, information, and digital tools is critical to all governments’ economic and other policy objectives: Not only do restrictive cross-border polices fail to protect privacy and personal data, but they also hurt developing countries and small businesses; impede financial equity and inclusion; undermine data security and cybersecurity; threaten human rights; slow science and innovation; and impair various health and safety, environmental, and other regulatory compliance priorities. Data transfers are critical to the health of developing economies across all sectors and at every stage of the value chain.
The GDA particularly endorses Commissioner Reynders’ view that:
“What used to be a matter of national polices or bilateral relations now requires going beyond these dimensions, towards a more multilateral one. That corresponds also to the reality of the digital economy: data often flow to multiple destinations, simultaneously (such as hub and spoke) or consecutively (for example processing chains with multiple actors). … To maximise safe data flows as a network, … as this group shows, there is a critical mass of countries around the world that share the importance of having clear, predictable, and enforceable mechanisms for safe data flows.”