ESR News Blog
Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn
Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – a leading global background check provider with capabilities in more than 240 countries and territories – has received notification from the International Trade Administration (ITA) that ESR’s annual submission for its self-certification of adherence to the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks has been finalized and is effective as of September 17, 2019.
“ESR’s commitment to the privacy and the security of the information that we handle when performing due diligence background checks is foremost in our minds,” said ESR President and Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) Brad Landin. “The Department of Commerce’s acceptance of ESR’s annual submission for re-certification of our adherence to the Privacy Shield Framework is a demonstration of that obligation.”
The EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks were designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission and Swiss Administration to provide companies on both sides of the Atlantic with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union (EU) and Switzerland (Swiss) to the United States (U.S.).
Organizations must self-certify to the ITA annually their adherence to the Frameworks in order to remain on the Privacy Shield List. ESR was one of the first adopters of Privacy Shield with an original certification date of August 12, 2016, less than two weeks after the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework officially launched on August 1, 2016. ESR’s Active Participant page on the list is available here.
Although the decision to join the Frameworks is voluntary, the public commitment by an organization to comply with Privacy Shield Principles through self-certification is enforceable under U.S. law by either the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The official Privacy Shield Framework website is available online at www.privacyshield.gov.
The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework replaced a previous international agreement called “Safe Harbor” that was invalidated by a European Court of Justice ruling on October 6, 2015, a decision that resulted from the case of Maximillian Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner where an Austrian citizen lodged a privacy complaint about his data being transferred to servers in the United States for processing.
Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – a leader in background check compliance – is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA), undergoes annual SSAE 18 SOC 2® Type 2 audits, adheres to the Privacy Shield Framework, complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and has award-winning technology. To learn more about ESR, visit www.esrcheck.com.
NOTE: Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) does not provide or offer legal services or legal advice of any kind or nature. Any information on this website is for educational purposes only.
© 2019 Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – Making copies or using of any part of the ESR News Blog or ESR website for any purpose other than your own personal use is prohibited unless written authorization is first obtained from ESR.
The post Employment Screening Resources (ESR) Completes Annual Privacy Shield Self-Certification for 2019 appeared first on Employment Screening Resources.