Commerce Secretary Ross: Companies must abide by ‘Privacy Shield’ obligations despite European Court decision

U.S. companies must still follow through on their data privacy and security commitments under the U.S.-European Union “Privacy Shield,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said today, despite a surprise decision by the European Union Court of Justice in the so-called Schrems II case finding that the transatlantic privacy agreement is inadequate and thus invalid.

“The Department of Commerce will continue to administer the Privacy Shield program, including processing submissions for self-certification and re-certification to the Privacy Shield Frameworks and maintaining the...