Certifying for Transatlantic Personal Data Transfer Mechanism Underscores Companies’ Ongoing Commitment to Excellence in Data Protection
Acxiom® (NASDAQ: ACXM), the enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company, today announced its certification to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. Certifying for Privacy Shield extends the data protection Acxiom and LiveRamp, an Acxiom company, are now able to offer their clients by adding important safeguards to the transfer of personal data from Europe to the U.S.
Acxiom is among the first global companies to achieve certification and joins others listed on the Privacy Shield website that have publicly committed to comply with the framework’s data protection requirements. To serve more than 7,000 global clients, Acxiom and LiveRamp have made extensive infrastructure investments. These include Global Service Centres in Europe and China and offices throughout the U.S. and internationally, including several European locations.
“We are pleased to self-certify and participate in the Privacy Shield program,” said Warren Jenson, president of Acxiom International. “We believe it is an important enhancement of our data protection program enabling us to offer ‘gold standard’ protections to our European client and partner community. Using data ethically builds trust, and certifying for the Shield underscores our ongoing commitment to the ethical use, protection and stewardship of data.”
Developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission, the Privacy Shield enables companies on both sides of the Atlantic to rely on the Shield as the legal transfer mechanism for personal data from the EU to the U.S. The Shield provides important legal certainty, clearing up confusion that companies have struggled with since the invalidation of the Shield’s predecessor, the EU Safe Harbour, in autumn 2015.
Dr Sachiko Scheuing, European Data Privacy Officer for Acxiom and co-chair of FEDMA said, “At Acxiom we worked hard with legislators in both the U.S. and EU to develop Privacy Shield, so it is gratifying to see our certification. This updated framework is essential for organisations on both sides of the Atlantic and developing the digital economies of the EU and US, while also ensuring citizens are adequately protected. The constant review process at the core of Privacy Shield will ensure that it keeps pace with international developments for the foreseeable future.”
As a complement to Privacy Shield, Acxiom will continue to administer a robust data protection programme that includes other privacy enhancing measures, such as encryption, hashing and de-identification of personal data before transatlantic data transfer occurs. For certain data outside the scope of the Shield, other legal data transfer mechanisms will be used, including standard contractual clauses.
Acxiom has a long and established history of delivering solutions to the marketplace that include protections for consumer data. In addition to being the first company to hire a Chief Privacy Officer more than 20 years ago, Acxiom was the first to create a portal (www.aboutthedata.com) that gives consumers the ability to manage how their data is used in Acxiom products, and the first to create a certified Safe Haven® environment with controls designed to ensure that data is managed ethically and in accordance with regional data protection requirements.
For more information about Privacy Shield, visit www.privacyshield.gov