WASHINGTON– July 25 2024 – The Global Data Alliance welcomes the European Commission’s Second Report on the Application of the General Data Protection Regulation (“2024 GDPR Report”), including: (1) its recognition of the importance of cross-border data transfers and high levels of personal data protection; (2) its summarization of the various mechanisms to facilitate transfers in the GDPR Toolbox; and (3) its commitment to explore new Codes of Conduct.
As the 2024 GDPR Report notes, “[d]ata flows have become integral to the digital transformation of society and to the globalization of the economy. More than ever before, respecting privacy is a condition for stable, secure and competitive commercial flows, as well as an enabler for many forms of international cooperation. The GDPR transfer toolbox provided by its Chapter V offers a variety of instruments to address different transfer scenarios, while ensuring that data continues to benefit from a high level of protection when leaving the EU.”
The GDPR toolbox provides for an array of useful transfer mechanisms – broadly grounded in the principle of accountability – for those countries seeking to follow the GDPR model of personal data protection. The 2024 GDPR Report also reflects the Commission’s commitments to, among other things:
- Provide financial support for activities of data protection authorities that facilitate implementation of GDPR obligations by SMEs;
- Further develop the toolkit for data transfers and international cooperation;
- Make further progress in ongoing adequacy talks… and pursue new dialogues;
- Support increased cooperation among the network of countries benefiting from adequacy decisions;
- Finalize work on additional standard contractual clauses;
- Cooperate with international partners on facilitating data flows on the basis of model contractual clauses;
- Support ongoing reform processes in third countries on new or modernized data protection rules by sharing experience and best practices;
- Engage with international and regional organizations such as the OECD and G7 to promote trusted data flows based on high data protection standards, including in the context of the Data Flow with Trust initiative;
- Facilitate and support exchanges between European and international regulators, including through its Data Protection Academy;
- Contribute to facilitating international enforcement cooperation between supervisory authorities, including through the negotiation of cooperation and mutual assistance agreements.