The European Commission on Wednesday gave a thumbs-up to the “Privacy Shield” agreement that allows U.S. companies to transfer EU personal data outside of the bloc, following the first annual review of the pact. But the commission also urged U.S. authorities to more proactively monitor companies’ compliance with the terms of the deal.
The Privacy Shield agreement was struck last year after the EU’s highest court invalidated a pre-existing data arrangement known as Safe Harbor, due largely to disclosures by Edward Snowden showing the extent of U.S. mass surveillance. More than 2,400 companies—including Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Google Inc.—are enrolled in the new agreement.
