Privacy Platform: The CLOUD Act and e-Evidence: “America first” or GDPR first? Challenges of transatlantic access to e-evidence in law enforcement.

In March last year the US CLOUD Act was passed as part of a two-thousand page spending bill covering 1.3 trillion dollars, without any congressional debate. A few months later, the European Commission published its e-evidence regulation proposal for easier access to electronic evidence for law enforcement purposes. In early February, the Commission will recommend the Council to grant a mandate for negotiations with the US on an EU-US agreement 'under the CLOUD Act'. What are the consequences of the CLOUD Act and a forthcoming EU-US agreement for data privacy of Europeans? Are the US and EU racing against each other to the bottom: weaker privacy protections and eliminating judicial checks and legal safeguards? Will the EU propose the same arrangement to Russia or China if they adopt their own CLOUD Act? How can law enforcement cooperation work in the digital age without compromising citizens' rights?

The topic is particularly relevant because in the week after the Privacy Platform, the Commission will publish its recommendation to the Council to authorise negotiations with the US on an EU-US agreement on facilitating access to e-evidence.