Tech Gets Real

The US Supreme Court may have doomed Big Tech in Europe

Tech Gets Real

Show Notes

The US Supreme Court’s Slaughter ruling on Monday, which overturned longstanding precedent called Humphrey’s Executor, is seriously bad news for American companies who handle Europeans’ personal data. That’s because the ruling destroyed the independence of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is an essential part of a deal that enables transatlantic data flows. And now Max Schrems, who blew up that deal’s predecessors, is going in for the kill.

Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful.

REFERENCES:

US Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Slaughter https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-332_qn12.pdf

My 2023 Fortune article on the EU-US Data Protection Framework https://fortune.com/europe/2023/07/10/us-eu-trans-atlantic-data-privacy-framework-meta-schrems-cjeu/

Noyb’s statement on the Slaughter ruling’s implications https://noyb.eu/en/us-supreme-court-just-blew-eu-us-data-transfers

Noyb’s letter to the European Commission https://noyb.eu/sites/default/files/2026-06/Letter_noyb_EU-US_data_transfers.pdf

My most recent ISMG article on EU tech sovereignty https://www.databreachtoday.com/france-germany-boost-digital-sovereignty-push-a-32031

More from Tech Gets Real

Oct 15, 2026

European banks really do have to refund customers who lose money in phishing scams, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled in a Polish case. The CJEU’s decision is a big deal for phishing victims who until now have usually been forced to take the hit themselves.

Oct 6, 2026

Norway is about to ban camera-equipped smart glasses such as Meta AI Glasses from many public spaces, and a Dutch eyewear retailer is dropping the category from its lineup, because of social and legal pushback. Can a company like Meta, which has many privacy scandals under its belt and which is close to the Trump administration, get around this kind of resistance?

Sep 24, 2026

New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham used a major UN speech to announce a pushback against Russian online disinformation campaigns that fuel far-right unrest in the UK. We need to see the details, because there’s a risk of fueling far-right persecution claims if this is not handled with care.

Sep 18, 2026

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday proposed a wide-ranging “alliance for the future” between his country and the European Union. It was all about self-preservation in the face of Trump’s America – and a lot of it was about tech sovereignty, particularly regarding AI and its infrastructure.

Sep 10, 2026

Anthropic has not given UK and European AI officials access to Mythos 5.1, its latest powerful model, seemingly because the Trump administration won’t allow it. There’s no easy explanation for this – especially as OpenAI is being allowed to grant similar access to its latest model,

See all episodes →