On Feb. 2, 2016, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the EU Commission reached a preliminary agreement in principle to a document called the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. On Feb. 29, 2016, the initial draft of the proposal was publicly released.1
The creation and ultimate effectiveness of the Privacy Shield is a critical element to the future of commercial relationships between the United States and EU in that it sets the guidelines for the handling, transmission and possession of EU citizens’ personal data by U.S. companies. It is intended to replace a previous set of guidelines and processes that had existed since 2000, known as the Safe Harbor Agreement.
