BRUSSELS, 14 September 2017 – Ahead of the Privacy Shield’s first annual review next week, BSA | The Software Alliance encourages the EU and the US to hold fruitful and constructive discussions to further solidify the success of the one year-old EU-US data transfer framework.

Commenting on the upcoming review, Thomas Boué, BSA Director General, Policy – EMEA, said: “Virtually every transaction in the trillion-euro transatlantic trade relationship, from the movement of services and capital to the movement of goods and people, heavily relies on the transfer of data between the EU and US. The Privacy Shield is an important mechanism to enable that transfer in a manner that both ensures strong privacy protections and bolsters economic and job growth for the world’s two largest trading partners.”

A positive joint review will strengthen trust among all industry sectors and citizens on both sides of the Atlantic, who greatly benefit from data-driven efficiencies. It will provide businesses with the legal certainty they need to continue operating and innovating and will help further increase the number of Privacy Shield-certified companies.

“Privacy Shield is proof that there is a strong desire on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure privacy and innovation improve together”, Boué concluded.