According to a report by Reuters news agency, US undersecretary of commerce for international trade Stefan Selig said the US government would review the non-binding opinion on the Privacy Shield issued by a body of EU data protection authorities last week.
However, he suggested the US government would be wary of opening negotiations on altering the agreement to address the concerns raised in the opinion, the report said.
"[The US government is] very cautious about not upsetting what was a delicate balance that was achieved when we negotiated the original text, so would be chary about doing anything that would do just that", Selig said, according to Reuters.
The Privacy Shield is a framework that has been negotiated between EU and US officials and is designed to facilitate the flow of personal data from the EU to the US.
Strict rules apply to the transfer of personal data outside of the EU or wider European Economic Area. Last week the Article 29 Working Party refused to endorse a draft decision by the European Commission that adequate data protection would be in place for transfers of personal data carried out in accordance with the Privacy Shield principles, as is required by EU data protection laws.
The Working Party's particular concerns relate to the scope of bulk data processing powers enjoyed by US authorities and with whether a new ombudsperson, who would be tasked with handling complaints relating to the accessing of EU citizens' personal data by US intelligence agencies, would be independent of the US government.
Data protection experts Kathryn Wynn and Niels Tacke of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, have warned that data transfers carried out in line with the Privacy Shield could be subject to legal challenge if changes are not made to the framework to address the Working Party's concerns.
However, Wynn and Tacke said they believe it might be difficult for EU negotiators to obtain additional commitments from their US counterparts to address the concerns raised.