Companies doing business globally have a variety of complex issues to deal with, not the least of which is concern about the security of personal data collected from their customers.
In 1995, the European Union issued Directive 95/46/ EC, the Data Protection Directive, concerning the protection of individuals with regard to the processing and transfer of personal data. Thereafter, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), in consultation with the EU, developed the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework. This, along with the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework, is a streamlined process for American companies to comply with the Data Protection Directive. The Framework enables U.S. organizations to transfer personal data from the EU to the U.S. provided the American company certifies with the DOC that it adheres to the Safe Harbor privacy principles. As of December 2013, more than 4,000 companies had certified compliance with the Safe Harbor program.
Originally published on Law.com on September 14, 2014.
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