Advocate General delivers Opinion on standard contractual clauses for international data transfers

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The Advocate General has released his Opinion which recommends that the Court of Justice of the European Union finds that the standard contractual clauses governing transfers of personal data, issued by the Commission, are valid, in the long running series of cases instigated by Max Schrems, who has complained about the way Facebook transfers data.

Commenting on the Opinion, Data Protection Partner Adam Rose said:

The EU has always said it’s a fundamental human right that our personal data is protected – it is clear that our personal data needs to be kept securely. The EU-implemented GDPR was brought into force last year to provide a high standard of protection. This Opinion supports the argument that the standard contractual clauses help data exporters meet the GDPR standard, meaning that, if upheld by the Court, this will allow businesses to continue to move personal data into other countries beyond the EU’s borders. But you can’t just say you have the standard contractual clauses in place, you actually also need to be able to show that rights will be respected in the recipient country.

Adam featured on BBC World Business today, commenting on the case a few hours before the Opinion was handed down.