U.S. - EU Privacy Shield Dead

While this will understandably get crowded out of the news cycle, any business with a significant online presence, particularly where that online presence engages EU residents, should be prepared to respond to the U.S. - EU Privacy Shield coming to an end. The safe harbor from EU General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") was recently struck down by the EU Court of Justice. The result will leave many businesses who had relied on the Privacy Shield for its GDPR compliance needs scrambling to put new compliance protocols into place. As someone who has helped numerous companies come into GDPR compliance (both with and without using the Privacy Shield), one thing I can stress is the need for companies with significant online presences facing the EU to review their service and vendor contracts to ensure that applicable "Standard Contractual Clauses" ("SCCs"), which can act as a safe harbor for companies to show GDPR compliance, are used and drafted in a manner to ensure that GDPR penalties are avoided. Experience legal counsel can and should help with this process.