Rackspace Welcomes the European Commission’s Adequacy Decision on the Privacy Shield
The European Commission announced on July 12, 2016 the adequacy decision of the privacy protections provided by the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.
The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield is the new framework for the transatlantic transfer of personal data, replacing the Safe Harbor Framework invalidated in October 2015. This decision comes after more than two years of negotiations between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission.
Rackspace welcomes this decision and the achievement by the U.S. and EU authorities in negotiating this framework.
The Privacy Shield is now recognized by the European Commission as a legal basis for the transatlantic transfer of personal data from the EU to U.S. companies who will self-certify their compliance.
The Department of Commerce will begin accepting self-certifications to the Privacy Shield on Aug. 1, 2016. U.S. companies that certify their compliance with Privacy Shield principles will be authorized to receive data from the EU.
Today’s global economy relies upon data flows across national borders. Rackspace is a global business that takes data protection and privacy seriously. The benefits of cloud computing and the ability to transfer data across national borders provide tremendous value to society and a unique opportunity to achieve a more integrated world.
Rackspace has always assessed international privacy requirements to ensure we have processes in place to help our customers comply with their international data transfer requirements.
Securing the self-certification to the Privacy Shield framework is a critical component of Rackspace’s global privacy compliance strategy. As part of this strategy, Rackspace has engaged TRUSTe, a third-party compliance verification provider, in preparation for the Privacy Shield’s implementation.
Rackspace is now assessing the new framework and is in the process of implementing the requirements for its compliance with the framework; we plan to transition to the new Privacy Shield program in the upcoming weeks.
We will update our customers once Rackspace has formally adopted the Privacy Shield.
