The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) has written to European Commissioner Michael McGrath to warn that recent developments in the United States raise serious doubts about the continued adequacy of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. TACD says the independence of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, a key part of the framework’s enforcement structure, is now under threat.
TACD points to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, which it says gives the U.S. President unprecedented power to remove members of more than 20 independent federal agencies, including the FTC, without cause. In TACD’s view, this undermines the political independence needed for the framework to satisfy EU data protection standards.
TACD calls on the European Commission to assess the impact carefully and, if needed, take action to protect people’s personal data, including revoking the adequacy decision if independence safeguards are no longer sufficient.