EUROPEAN DATA TRANSFER TO THE USA ON THE HOT SEAT
A month after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case Trump v. Slaughter, European data protection authorities are calling on Brussels. In a letter sent on July 31, 2026, to Michael McGrath, the European Commissioner in charge of democracy, justice, the rule of law, and consumer protection, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which gathers national Privacy protection Authorities, asked the European Commission to closely examine the consequences of this ruling on the framework governing the transfer of personal data between the European Union and the United States.
The issue: the independence of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This American authority, responsible for protecting consumers and competition, plays a central role in enforcing the Data Privacy Framework (DPF), the agreement that has allowed since 2023 the transfer of European personal data to certified U.S. entities, the successor to the stopped PRIVACY SHIELD. The issue comes from the decision of the US Supreme Court, which has ruled the FCC cannot ignore orders from the President, hence disrupting the independence of this institution. As soon as it is not independent, can it warrant the fairness of decisions regarding transferred data’s protection ?
GOOGLE AI-BASEDGENERAL SUMMARIES TRIGGER HOSTILE REACTIONS FROM FRENCH PRESS
The Alliance of General News Press (APIG), which brings together nearly 300 French daily newspapers, including Le Monde, announced on Tuesday, August 11, that it has taken action with the Competition Authority in response to Google’s deployment at the end of July of AI-generated summaries, which the media fear could rob them of traffic. APIG is asking the Competition Authority to step in “to demand that Google respect the commitments made in 2022,” because “the unilateral rollout of new uses of press content, without prior authorization or dedicated compensation, goes against these commitments.”
Google’s insights called ‘AI Overviews’ come with an AI mode featuring a conversational search that lets the user chat with the search engine. The usual links in response to queries appear below these two features. According to Press managers, the launch of AI previews and AI mode “happened before opening transparent and good-faith negotiations, based on a simple proposal to update the existing license agreement and with the only alternative being a technical withdrawal that would result in a loss of visibility for media websites”.
META FACES COURT
The “mega trial” of META opens on Wednesday August 12 in Oakland (California). Sued by four States, the hyperscaler is accused of deliberately seeking to provoke addiction among users, especially young ones. This trial, which comes after two others where META has been found guilty, will last at least three months.
