The European Union?s Data Protection Authorities have confirmed that Google Cloud services? contractual commitments fully meet the requirements to legally frame transfers of data from the EU to the rest of the world, in accordance with EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC.

The authorities have concluded that Google's agreements for international transfers of data for G Suite and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are in line with the European Commission's "model contract clauses" and should therefore not be considered "ad hoc" clauses.

"Model contract clauses" are a set of European Commission approved standard provisions that can be used to achieve compliance with legal requirements pertaining to the transfer of personal data outside of the European Economic Area. "Ad hoc" clauses are clauses created for a particular service that substantially differ from the European Commission's "model contract clauses" and therefore don't have the same legal value.

In practice, this compliance finding will enable our customers in most EU countries to rely on Google Cloud model contract clauses for the international transfer of data without further authorizations, and will simplify the processing of national authorizations in other countries, where required. It will also help to facilitate Google's customers' data protection risk assessments.

The review process was conducted in accordance with Working Paper (WP) 226 of the Article 29 Working Party. The Irish Data Protection Authority acted as the lead authority and the Spanish and Hamburg authorities as co-reviewers.

"Successful completion of the review process marks an important milestone for Google and its customers, as it confirms that the legal protections underpinning the Google Cloud international data flows meet European regulatory requirements," Google said.

The Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC is the European Union's directive, which was adopted in 1995 and which regulates the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data.

ud services' contractual commitments fully meet the requirements to legally frame transfers of data from the EU to the rest of the world, in accordance with EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC.

The authorities have concluded that Google's agreements for international transfers of data for G Suite and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are in line with the European Commission's "model contract clauses" and should therefore not be considered "ad hoc" clauses.

"Model contract clauses" are a set of European Commission approved standard provisions that can be used to achieve compliance with legal requirements pertaining to the transfer of personal data outside of the European Economic Area. "Ad hoc" clauses are clauses created for a particular service that substantially differ from the European Commission's "model contract clauses" and therefore don't have the same legal value.

In practice, this compliance finding will enable our customers in most EU countries to rely on Google Cloud model contract clauses for the international transfer of data without further authorizations, and will simplify the processing of national authorizations in other countries, where required. It will also help to facilitate Google's customers' data protection risk assessments.

The review process was conducted in accordance with Working Paper (WP) 226 of the Article 29 Working Party. The Irish Data Protection Authority acted as the lead authority and the Spanish and Hamburg authorities as co-reviewers.

"Successful completion of the review process marks an important milestone for Google and its customers, as it confirms that the legal protections underpinning the Google Cloud international data flows meet European regulatory requirements," Google said.

The Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC is the European Union's directive, which was adopted in 1995 and which regulates the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data.