Employment Screening Resources (ESR) Completes Annual Privacy Shield Re-Certification for 2018

Written By Employment Screening Resources® (ESR)

Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – a leading global background check firm – has received notification from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) that ESR’s annual submission for its self-certification of adherence to the Privacy Shield Framework has been finalized and is effective as of September 26, 2018.

“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 Privacy Shield Framework was designed by the Department of Commerce and European Commission to provide companies that transfer personal data from the European Union (EU) to the United States (U.S.) with a mechanism to comply with EU data protection requirements in support of transatlantic commerce. The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework officially launched on August 1, 2016.

The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework includes seven commonly recognized privacy principles combined with 16 equally binding supplemental principles that explain and augment the first seven principles. The 23 Privacy Shield Principles layout requirements for the use of personal data received from the EU by participating organizations. The Principles are available at www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework.

Organizations must self-certify to the ITA annually their adherence to Privacy Shield 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 official launch date. ESR also self-certified with the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. The ESR page on the Privacy Shield list is available here.

Although the decision to join Privacy Shield 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 replaces 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 U.S. for processing.

ESR Adheres to Privacy Shield and Other Data Protection Methods

Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – a leading global background check firm – is accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®), undergoes annual SSAE 18 SOC 2® Type 2 audits, adheres to the Privacy Shield Framework, offers General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant processes, and won the 2018 TekTonic Award from HRO Today Magazine for innovative and disruptive background screening technology. To learn more, 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.

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