Privacy Shield Self-Certifications Reach 500; 1,000 Still to Be Processed, Says Pritzker

More than 500 companies are now listed as self-certified under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework, as of Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker tweeted about the milestone and said more than 1,000 applications are being processed. The trans-Atlantic data transfer agreement was signed earlier this year to better safeguard personal information of European citizens, replacing the safe harbor framework invalidated by the EU high court a year ago. But Privacy Shield is still expected to face legal challenges in Europe (see 1609150023). Self-certification began in August and some said sign-ups may slow now that an incentive -- giving companies extra time to ensure their third-party vendors get the same data protection level required in the framework -- has passed (see 1610030008).