Online privacy and secure data transfers matter quite a bit when you’re on the Internet. Europe’s GDPR is pretty much an all encompassing privacy law that works in the interest of the consumer. But with Europe doing business with Huawei, a company based in China, there are Chinese laws Huawei has to abide by, which may be contradictory to that of the European Union. Lawalways wants to know: Should Europe break away from Huawei due to an increase in Chinese surveillance and contradictory data privacy and intelligence laws? 

The Problem

Europe is doing quite a bit to ensure data security and the online privacy of its citizens. The EU has already gone full force on the technology industry of America and many people think that it’s time for the EU to get tough on big technology in China. Chinese technology companies like Huawei are equipped to process a huge amount of data without the legal and regulatory restraints that are in force between the US and the EU. If China is not held to the same strict standards as far as data is concerned, then Europe’s data is not truly secure.

Privacy Protections

Chinese companies operating in Europe currently offer privacy guarantees with “binding corporate rules” and “standard contractual clauses” when transferring data outside of the EU. This is fine as long as the Chinese government doesn’t ask for the Chinese companies in Europe to provide their data. Legally, they would have to comply with the Chinese government, but they would be doing so at the expense of European data privacy laws. 

The entire purpose of Europe’s GDPR is to standardize privacy laws within the EU, while helping users know how their data is and can be used. It also makes it easier to make a complaint or get justice for any privacy breaches. And all those doing business online in the EU must be GDPR compliant or face penalties and consequences. 

Huawei's Response

Huawei is well aware of the situation, and the CEO says that he will decline any government requests for data. Chinese officials are saying that Huawei and other such private companies are not subject to governmental oversight. Legal analysts still don’t see how those under China’s National Intelligence Law can successfully deny a request from the government to turn over data. 

Undoubtedly, these privacy concerns are going to continue to grow. Europe has to have its citizens best interests in mind, and China has to have its best interests at the forefront as well. This is, indeed, a tricky situation to navigate. The legal agreement between the US and the EU wouldn’t be advantageous to China, so some other type of privacy agreement would need to be struck between the two parties. 

Data privacy is something that can be arranged and negotiated between industries, but intelligence laws are something totally different. As the world makes more and more technological advances and increasing amounts of information are stored and transferred by this technology, privacy and handling of the information becomes more important.