On March 17, 2025, the Finnish Supervisory Authority (“SA”) announced that it is investigating the transfer of personal data related to human research samples by a Finnish university to a Chinese company for genetic analysis services. 

The SA will assess whether the university has taken the “necessary safeguards” to prevent, for example, the personal data from being used for purposes other than those for which it was intended or to prevent the Chinese government from having access to the data.  SAs have increased their focus on transfers to China, among other with investigations into DeepSeek’s AI application.

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Covington’s Data Privacy and Cybersecurity team regularly advises companies on their most challenging compliance issues in the EU and other key markets, including on international data transfers.  Our team is happy to assist companies with any inquiries on this topic.