Tech Giants Are Ignoring Questions Over the Legality of Their EU-US Data Transfers
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Soycow_Lover:
Tech giants are ignoring questions over the legality of their EU-US data transfers:
A survey of responses from more than 30 companies to questions about how they're approaching EU-US data transfers in the wake of a landmark ruling (aka Schrems II) by Europe's top court in July, which struck down the flagship Privacy Shield over US surveillance overreach, suggests most are doing the equivalent of burying their head in the sand and hoping the legal nightmare goes away.
European privacy rights group, noyb, has done most of the groundwork here - rounding up in this 45-page report responses (some in English, others in German) from EU entities of 33 companies to a set of questions about personal data transfers.
It sums up the answers to the questions about companies' legal basis for transferring EU citizens' data over the pond post-Schrems II as "astonishing" or AWOL - given some failed to send a response at all.
Tech companies polled on the issue run the alphabetic gamut from Apple to Zoom. While Airbnb, Netflix and WhatsApp are among the companies that noyb says failed to respond about their EU-US data transfers.
Responses provided by companies that did respond appear to raise many more questions than they answer - with lots of question-dodging 'boilerplate responses' in evidence and/or pointing to existing privacy policies in the hope that will make the questioner go away (hi Facebook!) .
"Overall, we were astonished by how many companies were unable to provide little more than a boilerplate answer. It seems that most of the industry still does not have a plan as to how to move forward," noyb adds.
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