Privacy Agreement where are you?

Privacy Policy – Even at the end of 2021, there is still no reliable legal basis for the transfer of data to non-EU countries, especially the USA. Companies that rely on US clouds such as AWS, Google or Azure face high penalties. A new Bitkom study reveals alarming numbers.

In the summer of last year, we at centron also had Privacy Shield spoken. At that time, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) had withdrawn the legal basis for the transfer of personal data to the USA. The reason for this was the insufficient data protection standards in the USA. For example, US secret services can view data without the consent of those affected or providers. Most US cloud providers are thus violating the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Today, more than a year later, there is still no solution to this problem in sight. For many companies, this state of affairs is an impertinence. A current Bitkom study shows just how drastic the German economy is.



Into the cloud – but safe!
With the cloud solutions From the ISO 27001-certified centron data center in Hallstadt near Bamberg, you are always on the safe side when it comes to data protection, performance and availability: https://www .centron.de/cloud/

Every second company has data outside the EU

According to the current Bitkom Research study “Data protection as a permanent task for the economy: DS-GVO & international data transfers”, 48 percent of all German companies exchange data with service providers outside the EU. 52 percent transfer to the USA, 35 percent to Great Britain, 18 percent to Russia and 13 percent to India.

In theory, companies would have to check each data transfer individually whether the data is really being stored securely and in compliance with the GDPR outside the EU. In practice, however, this approach is uneconomical and almost impossible.

We urgently need to ensure more legal certainty. A new “Privacy Shield” is essential. The EU is aiming for a new data protection agreement with the USA. However, this is not an easy task.
Achim Berg, Bitkom President

Data protection agreement: Fines are the lesser evil

The question arises as to why companies still transfer data to non-EU countries, even though they risk fines of up to 20 million euros? The answer to that is relatively simple: because it has become indispensable to their business model. 62 percent of the study participants state that they can no longer offer certain products and services without data processing outside the EU. 57 percent give disadvantages compared to companies from non-EU countries as a reason. 54 percent say that a loss of data processing outside the EU means higher costs. Also 54 percent could no longer maintain their global security support.


The fact is, we need a legally secure data protection agreement between the EU and the USA. However, it is also a fact that we are still a long way from a satisfactory solution at the moment. The EU is taking its time on this issue because it wants to avoid the embarrassment of a third failed data protection agreement. The calls for alternatives are getting louder – and there are.

There are also cloud providers within the EU with excellent performance, availability and support. In our experience, companies are in principle also willing to migrate to a German cloud, for example. But: Especially with historically grown, large IT infrastructures, it is extremely complex and expensive to migrate them away from a US cloud provider.
Wilhelm Seucan, Managing Director at centron

Our centron Tip: If you dare to venture into the cloud, rely on a provider within the EU right from the start. Ideally, you work with a German cloud provider, because they guarantee you the best available data protection. So you are always on the safe side, no matter what the outcome of the tug-of-war between the EU and the USA over the data protection agreement.

The complete study results can be downloaded from the Bitkom Research website: Data protection as a permanent task for the economy: GDPR & international data transfers

You can find further background information in the current issue of Handelsblatt: Bitkom President warns: Missing data protection agreement with the USA “will massively damage the German economy”< /a>