Privacy Shield: October 1 Deadline Approaching

As we have written previously, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Program went live in August of this year. Many companies have signed up to this program, which replaces the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework as a mechanism for transferring personal data from the EU to the U.S. Should you join them? Companies who join prior to October 1 will enjoy a nine-month grace period from the date that they self-certify to address the contractual provisions of the Privacy Shield Principles for existing third party relationships. For some, this may be a strong incentive. For others, it will not outweigh the burden of assessing if they can live up to the Shield’s requirements in relatively short order. After October 1, companies can still sign up, but will not benefit from the nine-month grace period. We anticipate a rush of sign-ups in the coming weeks, and a potential for a drop off shortly after.

TIP: Companies who want to take advantage of the nine-month grace period have until October 1. Those interested in learning more about the Shield can listen to Winston’s August 16 eLunch on this topic.