Privacy Shield Program

The EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks were designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission and Swiss Administration to provide companies on both sides of the Atlantic with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States in support of transatlantic commerce.

The Privacy Shield program, which is administered by the International Trade Administration (ITA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce, enables U.S.-based organizations to join one or both of the Privacy Shield Frameworks in order to benefit from the adequacy determinations. To join either Privacy Shield Framework, a U.S.-based organization will be required to self-certify to the Department of Commerce and publicly commit to comply with the Framework’s requirements.

 

Benefits of Participation

The Privacy Shield provides a number of important benefits to U.S.-based organizations, as well as their partners in Europe. These include:

• All Member States of the European Union are bound by the European Commission’s finding of “adequacy,” and Switzerland is bound by the Swiss Government's finding of "adequacy".
• Participating organizations are deemed to provide “adequate” privacy protection, a requirement (subject to limited derogations) for the transfer of personal data outside of the European Union under the EU Data Protection Directive and outside of Switzerland under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection.
• EU Member State requirements for prior approval of data transfers either are waived or approval will be automatically granted.
• Compliance requirements are clearly laid out and cost-effective, which should particularly benefit small and medium-sized enterprises.