EU-US Privacy Shield: Workday Welcomes Robust Data Transfer Mechanism

Workday welcomes the successful conclusion of negotiations on the Privacy Shield.  While the road has been long, in short order the Privacy Shield will become an important vehicle for transferring data along the highways of the global digital economy.

The Privacy Shield’s adoption reaffirms the trust and cooperation between the European Union and the United States, the world’s largest trading partners.  We applaud the negotiators and broader stakeholder groups for successfully reaching an agreement that ensures privacy protections while reaping the societal and economic benefits of the digital age.

The willingness of government and industry on both sides of the Atlantic to drive to a mutually acceptable outcome illustrates a recognition that regulatory mechanisms must evolve to keep pace with rapid changes in technology.  We can ensure fundamental rights are protected yet still allow commerce to thrive.

Although the Privacy Shield is likely to be tested in European courts, we share the confidence of both EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová, who called the Privacy Shield “an arrangement with the highest standards to protect Europeans’ personal data,” and United States Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, who today hailed the Privacy Shield as “a milestone for privacy” and a facilitator for transatlantic trade and collaboration at a press conference in Brussels announcing the agreement.

The Privacy Shield is just the first of several steps that will provide greater predictability for businesses operating in Europe. The General Data Protection Regulation will be implemented across the European Union by 2018, which will ensure uniform data protection guarantees and standards for citizens and companies. In addition the European Commission’s upcoming initiative on the free flow of data will allow businesses operating in Europe to effectively scale their operations through digital solutions.

We look forward to the practical details of the Privacy Shield being implemented and the framework becoming fully effective. At Workday, we are preparing to certify compliance with the Privacy Shield as soon as we can practically do so. We are committed to protecting our customers’ privacy and we’ve built our business on key security and privacy concepts, as we’ve discussed before. In addition to the Privacy Shield certification, we will continue to utilize the European Commission-approved Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), which legitimize cross-border transfers of personal data from Europe, when requested by customers.