EU-US Privacy Shield should be approved, says Microsoft

John Frank, vice president of EU government affairs at the technology giant, said the company had conducted a detailed review of "the Privacy Shield documentation" and concluded "wholeheartedly that it represents an effective framework".

The Privacy Shield is a framework that has been proposed to facilitate the transfer of personal data between the EU and US. EU and US officials hope the Privacy Shield can replace the safe harbor agreement which was invalidated by the EU's highest court in October last year.

Earlier this year the European Commission published a draft 'adequacy decision' which outlined its view that data transfers to the US made under the EU-US Privacy Shield will correspond to EU data protection law requirements. The privacy principles that businesses will have to comply with if they sign up to the Privacy Shield were also detailed in the documents published by the Commission at the time.

Later this week a committee of representatives from data protection authorities across the EU, the Article 29 Working Party, is expected to publish its views on the Privacy Shield. Leaked papers, though, suggest that data protection authorities in Germany do not want the Working Party to endorse the Commission's opinion.

However, Frank said the Privacy Shield "is an important step in enhancing trust in the global digital economy" and that Microsoft hopes it is "approved as negotiated".

"No single legal instrument can address for all time all of the privacy issues on both sides of the Atlantic," Frank said. "We continue to believe today that additional steps will be needed to build upon the Privacy Shield after it is adopted, ranging from additional domestic legislation to modernization of mutual legal assistance treaties and new bilateral and ultimately multilateral agreements. But we believe that the Privacy Shield as negotiated provides a strong foundation on which to build."

"The effectiveness of the Privacy Shield will turn in part on the responsible steps taken by companies to abide by it. For our part, I’m pleased to announce today that Microsoft pledges to sign up for the Privacy Shield, and we will put in place new commitments to advance privacy as this instrument is implemented," he said.