Privacy Shield: the first applications were submitted

Although companies began submitting their application to join the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the U.S. Department of Commerce did not immediately list their compliance.

Among others, Microsoft was one of the first businesses to certify that it complied with the new rules for transferring European Union citizens’ personal data to the U.S.

On its blog Microsoft published a statement by Vice President for EU Government Affairs John Frank saying “We expect it to be approved in the coming days”.  Furthermore, he said “Going forward, any data which we will transfer from Europe to the U.S. will be protected by the Privacy Shield’s safeguards.”

The process for joining the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield includes a self-certification, which is charged by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The fee for processing their annual applications and adding them to the register ranges from $250 for organizations with revenue under US$5 million up to $3,250 for those with revenue over $5 billion.

However, organizations also have to pay in order to join an arbitration service or in terms of data protection authorities dealing with complaints.