Dive Brief:
- Microsoft and Workday were among the first businesses to sign up for the new Privacy Shield regulations.
- The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration (ITA) began accepting self-certify applications on August 1. Microsoft and Workday in blog posts both announced they had signed up the first day.
- The Privacy Shield, the new rules for transferring European Union citizens' personal information to the U.S., was officially adopted by EU and U.S. officials on July 12.
Dive Insight:
The 15-year-old Safe Harbor agreement, under which about 4,000 businesses transferred personal information—such as payroll and human resources information—of EU citizens to the U.S. for storage and processing, was ruled invalid by the EU last October.
"We have submitted our Privacy Shield certification to the U.S. Department of Commerce and we expect it to be approved in the coming days," Microsoft vice president for EU government affairs John Frank wrote on a company blog. "Going forward, any data which we will transfer from Europe to the United States will be protected by the Privacy Shield’s safeguards."
Workday also touted the new policy, stating "as the successor to Safe Harbor, the Privacy Shield introduces stronger obligations on the handling of data and provides greater protections for individuals," Barbara Cosgrove, chief privacy officer for Workday, wrote in a company blog post.
The self-certification process fee ranges from $250 to over $3,000, depending on the company’s revenue.
