Privacy Shield Faces 'Rocky Future' Unless Trump Gives Framework Approval, Expert Says

The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield may face a "rocky future" if the incoming Trump administration thinks it's "unable or unwilling" to maintain the Obama administration's promises in protecting Europeans' personal data in the trans-Atlantic data transfer framework, London-based Cordery attorney Jonathan Armstrong said in a Thursday post on what Trump's election means for compliance on various issues. Trump's views on the NSA are "hard to determine," wrote Armstrong, who presented several 2013 tweets from the president-elect that showed Trump either being against NSA's spying activities or extending the agency's authority. "On 27 July 2013 he had also seemingly supported Edward Snowden saying '#snowden not a traitor. Shared info with fellow Americans who have a right to know about NSA snooping [expletive deleted],'" Armstrong wrote. Regardless of Trump's views, "he is likely to need to act swiftly once he assumes office to give Privacy Shield any hope of a lasting future," the attorney added. He also cited remarks by FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez Wednesday in Brussels that the Trump administration probably wouldn't make any significant changes on privacy and data enforcement security (see 1611090016). Privacy Shield faces several legal challenges in the EU (see 1611040002).