US Supreme Court decision threatens EU‑US Data Privacy Framework

On 29 June 2024 the US Supreme Court ruled in *Trump v. Slaughter* that the Federal Trade Commission cannot be independent, allowing the President to dismiss its commissioners at any time. The FTC’s independence underpins the EU‑US Data Privacy Framework, which requires an autonomous overseer of data processors.

The ruling casts doubt on the framework’s legal basis. Max Schrems, whose previous suits dismantled Safe Harbor and Privacy Shield, urged the European Commission to revoke the adequacy decision and announced a new challenge, dubbed “Schrems III”. The agreement remains in force only until the Commission formally withdraws it or the European Court of Justice overturns it.

Hundreds of thousands of European companies that rely on US cloud and software services now face heightened legal uncertainty. A recent short‑term block of Anthropic’s AI models for foreign users illustrated how regulatory actions can quickly restrict access. The decision is being seen as a shift from a technical outage issue to a broader question of data sovereignty and corporate risk management.