Kenneth Propp

The 2019 international agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States[1] on access to electronic evidence has attracted wide attention as a new tool of international assistance in criminal matters.[2]  Historically, countries have conducted such cooperation pursuant to mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs). The UK-US CLOUD Agreement, however, is the first international instrument putting in place a new mechanism providing that law enforcement authorities can request e-evidence directly from a cloud service provider, without going through MLAT procedures. [...]

In his Atlantic Council issue brief US Surveillance on Trial in Europe: Will Transatlantic Digital Commerce Be Collateral Damage?, Propp summarizes the history, oral arguments, and possible outcomes of the European Court of Justice’s pending decisions on the validity of Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.  Propp notes that if the Court finds U.S. surveillance law is inconsistent with EU privacy laws, “transatlantic data transfer mechanisms relied upon by [Facebook], and thousands of other companies, may be invalidated.”  [...]