Officials from across the United States Government, the European Commission, and EU data protection authorities gathered in Washington D.C. to conduct the first annual review of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield in September 2017.

The EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks were designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission and Swiss Administration to provide companies on both sides of the Atlantic with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States in support of transatlantic commerce.

The report reflects the Commission’s findings on the implementation and enforcement of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework in its first year of operation.

On the whole, the report shows that the Privacy Shield continues to ensure an adequate level of data protection. However, there is room for improvement.

On this basis, the Commission has drawn up a list of recommendations on the functioning of the Shield that need to be improved by the U.S. authorities. These recommendations are included in the Staff Working Document.

Read the full European Commision press release.

View the full report here.