Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield To Replace The U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework

On January 11, 2017, the Swiss Federal Council and the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA) announced that the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield will replace the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework to permit U.S. businesses to transfer personal data from Switzerland to the U.S. in compliance with Swiss data protection laws. The validity of the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework had been called into question ever since its European Union counterpart, the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework, was invalidated by the European Court of Justice in October of 2015.

The Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield is modeled after the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which went into effect in July of 2016, and will require U.S. employers currently relying on the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework to adhere to stricter privacy principles, create new data transfer policies and procedures, and be subject to greater enforcement and supervision by U.S. and Swiss authorities. U.S. employers will be able to self-certify