The Matrix

On March 25, 2022, the United States and the European Union announced they agreed in principle to a new data privacy framework for cross-border data transfers. Although specific details of this new data privacy framework have not yet been provided, the new framework is meant to replace the former EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (the “Privacy Shield”), an arrangement that allowed companies to transfer the personal data of European data subjects to the United States. The Privacy Shield was invalidated in July of 2020 by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the basis that the Privacy Shield did not protect European data from U.S. surveillance.

This is a follow-up to the June 23, 2021 Litigation Trends Analysis Alert, “How the IWCA Impacts BIPA Claims.” As noted there, the question before the Supreme Court of Illinois in McDonald was whether claims of injury under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) fall under the scope of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act (IWCA). The Court ruled last month that the BIPA is not preempted by the IWCA.