Arlington, VA – July 16, 2020 – “Today, a decision by the European Court of Justice in Case C-311/18 has invalidated the adequacy decision authorizing the Privacy Shield as a mechanism for transfers between the European Union and the United States.    

The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued the following statement in response to the decision: 

“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 Privacy Shield List. Today’s decision does not relieve participating organizations of their Privacy Shield obligations.”   

In accordance with this guidance, BBB EU Privacy Shield will continue to operate as an independent dispute resolution mechanism in support of the Privacy Shield Frameworks to ensure that our participating businesses can meet their obligations. The program remains available and we will continue to provide certification and compliance assistance.    

The BBB EU Privacy Shield team will continue to analyze the implications of the decision and will be engaging with the relevant authorities as the situation continues to develop.” 

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About BBB National Programs:  BBB National Programs is where businesses turn to enhance consumer trust and consumers are heard. This independent, non-profit organization enhances trust, innovation, and competition in the marketplace through the development and delivery of cost-effective, third-party self-regulation, dispute resolution, and accountability programs. BBB National Programs’ 10 leading industry self-regulation and dispute resolution programs resolve business issues of national and international importance, and fosters industry best practices in truth-in-advertising, child-directed marketing, data privacy, and dispute resolution. To learn more about industry self-regulation, visit bbbprograms.org. 

About BBB EU Privacy Shield: The BBB EU Privacy Shield, a division of BBB National Programs, operates an independent, third-party dispute resolution program that enables U.S. businesses to demonstrate that their transatlantic data transfers are consistent with European data protection rules. BBB EU Privacy Shield is a necessary component of a co-regulatory framework that enables trans-Atlantic trade and is a recognized Independent Recourse Mechanism under Privacy Shield.