The Privacy Shield provides a number of important benefits to U.S.-based organizations, as well as their partners in Europe.  These include:
 
  • All Member States of the European Union are bound by the European Commission’s finding of “adequacy,” and Switzerland is bound by the Swiss Government's finding of "adequacy"; 
  • Participating organizations are deemed to provide “adequate” privacy protection, a requirement (subject to limited derogations) for the transfer of personal data outside of the European Union under the EU Data Protection Directive and outside of Switzerland under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection; 
  • EU Member State requirements for prior approval of data transfers either are waived or approval will be automatically granted; and
  • Compliance requirements are clearly laid out and cost-effective, which should particularly benefit small and medium-sized enterprises.