Meta’s Response to EU Order Re: Data Transfers

On behalf of Meta, an Analysis Group team developed a white paper assessing the possible economic impacts of data transfers between Europe and the US in the wake of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s Schrems II decision. Because the precise implications of the Schrems II decision had yet to be determined at the time of writing, the paper illustrated the importance of extra-EU transfers of personal data by quantifying the potential economic impact that may result if companies in certain sectors could no longer conduct these transfers. Based on the estimates of our team, European businesses and consumers in the telecommunications, digital payments, global services outsourcing, and pharmaceutical R&D industries may incur several billion dollars of additional annual costs, depending on the implications of Schrems II. The case studies of these industries served as examples of the types and magnitudes of the impact of a hypothetical policy that restricts the transfer of personal data to third countries.