Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Blog

The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) has announced via its Twitter feed that it will deliver its judgement in the Schrems II case (case C-311/18) on July 16, 2020. This judgement will determine the validity of the Standard Contractual Clauses (“SCCs” or Model Clauses) as a transfer mechanism under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). SCCs are relied on by many global companies, including Facebook and Microsoft, for international transfers of EU personal data.

The CJEU’s Advocate General (“AG”) released its non-binding opinion on the case in December 2019, stating that the SCCs provide sufficient protection for personal data. This opinion was welcomed by international businesses, but will not necessarily be followed in the CJEU’s judgement. The AG also raised concerns regarding the Privacy Shield, an alternative transfer mechanism under the GDPR, in its opinion, but it is not clear whether the CJEU will refer to the Privacy Shield in its judgement.