Insurance Europe — together with a wide group of business associations from around the world — has signed a joint statement welcoming the recent announcement of a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework. The associations called for the swift finalisation of a framework that would support responsible data transfers and enable continued transatlantic commerce.
Ongoing uncertainty related to data transfers has significant economic repercussions for EU enterprises, exports, jobs, innovation, and SMEs, and undermines the ability of businesses and governments to promote high data protection standards.
Improving the legal framework for transatlantic data transfers is vital for Europe’s economy. It has been estimated by Digital Europe that, if data transfer mechanisms are largely made unusable, the EU stands to lose €1.3 trillion in cumulative economic growth by 2030, as well as 1.3 million jobs. Further details on such impacts can be found in the annex to the joint statement.
EU enterprises in all sectors and of all sizes rely on their ability to transfer data responsibly around the world, even more so today as many have moved their businesses online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies transfer personal data to send business emails, process payroll and global workforce data, work with suppliers, and serve customers around the world.
The associations highlighted that the central beneficiaries of a new framework would, however, be EU and US citizens, who will benefit from strengthened personal data protections as new participant companies adopt the privacy controls required by the program, and as new governmental commitments on access to data are implemented.