U.S. Companies Scrambling After EU Data Transfer Pact Dies (2)

Thousands of U.S. companies have to rethink how they move data from the European Union after the bloc’s top court Thursday invalidated an information-transfer pact known as the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.

The Court of Justice of the European Union’s decision forces companies to turn to alternative data-transfer mechanisms known as standard contractual clauses or binding corporate rules to send data across the Atlantic. The court let contractual clauses stand with some caveats.

There are “loads of companies that are going to need to pause and ask ‘Holey moley, how are we going to do this now?’” said Rafi Azim-Khan, leader ...