On September 15, 2017, the Trump White House released a Press Release regarding the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield—reiterating that they “firmly believe that the upcoming review [of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield] will demonstrate the strength of the American promise to protect the personal data of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The first alliance of its kind, the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield provides a framework for the exchange of consumer personal data between the United States and countries in the European Union. Established in 2016, one of the purposes was to enable U.S. companies to more efficiently receive data from countries in the EU while staying compliant with privacy laws that protect EU citizens.  The agreement also allows companies to store EU citizens’ personal data on U.S. servers.

The “upcoming review” referenced in the White House Press Release refers to the first annual review of the Privacy Shield since its adoption, with both EU and U.S. officials stating their support for the alliance in a joint statement released September 21, 2017.  According to this statement, over 2,400 organizations have jointed the Privacy Shield since the program’s inception a year ago.  The U.S. and EU both declared a “share[d] . . . interest in the Framework’s success and remain committed to continued collaboration to ensure it functions as intended.”

But what good is an agreement without any bite for potential violators? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently signaled that it fully intended to keep companies accountable for potential violations of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.

According to an FTC Press Release dated September 8, 2017, three U.S. Companies agreed to settle FTC charges that they “misled consumers about their participation” in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The FTC alleged that these companies violated the FTC Act by “falsely claiming that they were certified to participate in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield” when they had all “failed to complete the certification process for the Privacy Shield.” Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen warned companies that these “actions highlight the FTC’s commitment to aggressively enforce the Privacy Shield frameworks, which are important tools in enabling transatlantic commerce.” Notably, these enforcement actions are the first cases the FTC has brought to enforce the Privacy Shield.

Moving forward, companies should carefully assess whether they have completed the steps and certification necessary to make certain representations about participation in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield—as both the FTC and the current White House administration fully intend on continuing to “demonstrate the strength of the American promise” to pull their weight in the alliance.