The EU and US approach towards personal data protection: “A collision of tides or a convergence of waves?” A legal exploration of the differences and convergences between the EU and the US.

In today’s digitized world, personal data is being requested and collected everywhere. With the emergence of the internet and devices that are connected to the internet, such as smartphones, smartwatches or even smartfridges, the collection of personal data has expanded to an unprecedented scale. Due to globalization, personal data flows are occurring between the EU and the US, since most big tech companies are located in the US but selling their devices and offering their services in the EU. In order to protect citizens’ personal data, attempts have been made to reach a common EU-US agreement. Both agreements developed in this context were, however, invalidated by the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Upon closer inspection, the underlying problem appears to be the different qualification and framework used for personal data (protection) in the EU and the US, defining it respectively as a fundamental (human) right and a trade asset. This research aims at determining the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches with a specific focus on transatlantic data protection. It has to be understood first where these  different qualifications come from and on which value judgments they are based: thereto the genesis and evolution of both systems' approach will be analyzed. These approaches will subsequently be  contextualized in today's globalized and digitized world to determine whether they can be reconciled to effectively protect personal data in the US and the EU.