Digitrade Digest #49
A new transatlantic framework is here, Australia is working on a digital trade framework and more
The Digitrade Digest delivers the latest developments in global digital trade right to your inbox every week. To get the news as it happens, follow us on Twitter @DigiTradeDaily.
EU- US Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework
EU, US strike preliminary deal to unlock transatlantic data flows
Politico.eu: Brussels and Washington have struck an agreement in principle on a revamped “Privacy Shield” data transfer agreement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday.
Negotiators have been working on an agreement — which allows Europeans' personal data to flow to the United States — since the EU's top court struck down the Privacy Shield agreement in July 2020 because of fears that the data was not safe from access by American agencies once transferred across the Atlantic.
The EU chief's comments Friday show both sides have reached a political breakthrough, coinciding with U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Brussels this week.
"I am pleased that we found an agreement in principle on a new framework for transatlantic data flows. This will enable predictable and trustworthy data flows between the EU and U.S., safeguarding privacy and civil liberties," she said.
Biden said the framework would allow the EU "to once again authorize transatlantic data flows that help facilitate $7.1 trillion in economic relationships."
Friday's announcement will come as a relief to the hundreds of companies that had faced mounting legal uncertainty over how to shuttle everything from payroll information to social media post data to the U.S.
Officials on both sides of the Atlantic had been struggling to bridge an impasse over what it means to give Europeans' effective legal redress against surveillance by U.S. authorities. Not all of those issues have been resolved, though von der Leyen's comments Friday suggest technical solutions are within reach.
Despite the ripples of relief Friday's announcement will send through the business community, any deal is likely to be challenged in the courts by privacy campaigners.
FACT SHEET: United States and European Commission Announce Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework
Whitehouse.gov.in: The new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework underscores our shared commitment to privacy, data protection, the rule of law, and our collective security as well as our mutual recognition of the importance of trans-Atlantic data flows to our respective citizens, economies, and societies. Data flows are critical to the trans-Atlantic economic relationship and for all companies large and small across all sectors of the economy. In fact, more data flows between the United States and Europe than anywhere else in the world, enabling the $7.1 trillion U.S.-EU economic relationship.
By ensuring a durable and reliable legal basis for data flows, the new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework will underpin an inclusive and competitive digital economy and lay the foundation for further economic cooperation. It addresses the Court of Justice of the European Union’s Schrems II decision concerning U.S, law governing signals intelligence activities. Under the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, the United States has made unprecedented commitments to:
Strengthen the privacy and civil liberties safeguards governing U.S. signals intelligence activities;
Establish a new redress mechanism with independent and binding authority; and
Enhance its existing rigorous and layered oversight of signals intelligence activities.
For example, the new Framework ensures that:
Signals intelligence collection may be undertaken only where necessary to advance legitimate national security objectives, and must not disproportionately impact the protection of individual privacy and civil liberties;
EU individuals may seek redress from a new multi-layer redress mechanism that includes an independent Data Protection Review Court that would consist of individuals chosen from outside the U.S. Government who would have full authority to adjudicate claims and direct remedial measures as needed; and
U.S. intelligence agencies will adopt procedures to ensure effective oversight of new privacy and civil liberties standards.
Participating companies and organizations that take advantage of the Framework to legally protect data flows will continue to be required to adhere to the Privacy Shield Principles, including the requirement to self-certify their adherence to the Principles through the U.S. Department of Commerce. EU individuals will continue to have access to multiple avenues of recourse to resolve complaints about participating organizations, including through alternative dispute resolution and binding arbitration.
These new policies will be implemented by the U.S. intelligence community in a way to effectively protect its citizens, and those of its allies and partners, consistent with the high-standard protections offered under this Framework.
The teams of the U.S. government and the European Commission will now continue their cooperation with a view to translate this arrangement into legal documents that will need to be adopted on both sides to put in place this new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework. For that purpose, these U.S. commitments will be included in an Executive Order that will form the basis of the Commission’s assessment in its future adequacy decision.
US
U.S. senators complain Biden's Indo-Pacific plan won't cut tariffs
Reuters: Tai made clear the Indo-Pacific Economic Partnership was not an attempt to join or recreate the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the 11-country Pacific-Rim free trade agreement (FTA) negotiated by former U.S. president Barack Obama in 2015 but abandoned by Trump in 2017.
"Traditional FTAs have led us to a place where we are facing a considerable backlash that we are listening to from our own people about concerns regarding the offshoring and outsourcing of American jobs and opportunities," Tai said.
The Indo-Pacific framework, part of the Biden administration's efforts to make the region a strategic priority, is still being developed.
Tai described the trade component as setting standards for enhanced digital trade and more stringent environmental and labor standards, while other components include building more resilient supply chains, infrastructure development and de-carbonization.
Australia
Coalition launches new digital trade framework ahead of Australian election
ZDNet: The federal government has set out a new framework for building digital trade as part of its vision for Australia to become a top 10 digital economy by 2030. According to Trade Minister Dan Tehan, the launch of the new framework was spurred by predictions that digital trade will grow to AU$192 billion by the end of this decade.
Labelled by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) as a digital trade strategy, the framework is scant on actionable details but provides three aspirational goals.
The first of these goals is advocating for digital trade liberalisation, standards, and regulatory cooperation with international partners and through participation in international fora. The remaining two are negotiating liberalising and trade-facilitative digital trade rules and supporting the implementation of digital trade rules internationally.
While the federal government has put forward that its priority is advocating for digital trade liberalisation, companies like Meta have publicly said the government's recent policy moves have been counter to those aspirations.
Last week, Meta criticised the government's proposed online anti-defamation legislation as the tech giant believes it is at odds with the country's free trade agreements with other nations.
The anti-defamation legislation, framed as laws to stop trolling, seeks to require social media service providers to establish nominated Australian entities that can access user data for users who have posted potential defamatory material while in Australia.
According to the federal government, the implementation of these laws is allowed under an exception under a World Trade Organization agreement.
Singapore
Singapore, France ink digital economy agreement that encompasses green tech
ZDNet: The France-Singapore Digital and Green Partnership would provide a "structured" platform for the two countries to cooperate in projects across a range of digital and green issues. These, along with the targeted outcomes, would be outlined in the workplan and comprise sectors such as smart transport, smart cities, financial innovation, and education technology.
The goal here was to facilitate collaboration between private and public organisations that tapped digital and green technologies to drive the competitiveness of both economies, in a sustainable way.
The two countries would establish a joint working group, with representatives from each country, to oversee implementation of initiatives under the digital and green partnership.
These would look to address issues such as personal data protection, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), carbon trading, and services, and low-carbon energy products and services.
"We will boost our companies and industries' competitiveness and invest in technologies to maintain France and Singapore amongst the most competitive and innovative countries," the two countries said. They added that efforts under the bilateral agreement would further contribute to other multilateral and regional discussions, as well as function as a "pathfinder" for cooperation between Europe and Southeast Asia.
Singapore also established a Global Innovation Alliance Acceleration programme in Paris to support Singapore-based startups and small and midsize businesses, while France established La French Tech Singapore, offering a hub for French tech entrepreneurs based in the Asian market.
The Digitrade Digest is a weekly publication of the Digital Rights Program at Public Citizen.