In a speech at the Brookings Institution on Thursday, 11 April in Washington, the European Commissioner for Justice, Věra Jourová, called for strong cooperation between the EU and the United States in the digital age and, more broadly, for a “global coalition” on data protection.
For Ms Jourová, there are currently two camps at a global level: one camp “that understands that we should have more control over our data, including in the online environment”, of which the EU is “a proud member”, and one camp “that has a lax approach to privacy which prioritizes uninhibited and uncontrolled access to data in the name of business or government interests”.
She called on the United States, which is currently considering a potential federal data protection law (see EUROPE 12137/22), to join this first camp. “I want to see Europe and America working together because we are democratic societies built on similar values and we are exposed to similar problems [...] but if we become rivals and promote conflicting models, none of us will win”, she said.
For the Commissioner, strong transatlantic cooperation could be part of the answers to hot issues such as 5G, China or the data greed of internet giants.
“It’s time to work together, also with Japan (see EUROPE 12178/3) and other like-minded allies, on setting the global standard and leading the way. I believe this is the right moment to build a global coalition and promote secure flow of data”, she added.
The Commissioner outlined the way forward for the next European Commission in this area. There will need to be, according to her, an independent ethical assessment of the impact of technological innovation on society. “We should not aspire to become the next episode of the Black Mirror TV Show”, she said, referring to the series broadcast on Netflix that questions our relationship to technology in the future.
It will also be necessary to resist the temptation of excessive regulation and focus first on the implementation of existing rules, taking into account new developments, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, she concluded. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)