Last week, officials from the American government, the European Commission and EU data protection authorities came together in Washington D.C. to perform the first annual review of the Privacy Shield over the course of two days. The results of the evaluation are expected in October 2017.

It is the first big test for the Privacy Shield, which has been under fire since its conception in 2016. For more information on the Privacy Shield and its criticasters, we refer to our updates of 6 September 2017, 16 November 2016 and 31 October 2016. Shortly before the joint review, European commissioner for Justice Vera Jourová criticizedthe delay in the appointment of an independent Ombudsman, which has yet to be done by the US Government: We are patient but cannot be patient forever. We will ask when we can expect the fully fledged heads of these important offices to be put in place.”

The joint press release from the American Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, and Vera Jourová of 21 September 2017 can be read here.