The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently announced settlement with background check provider SecurTest, Inc. shows the agency remains vigilant regarding businesses’ claims that they comply with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework (Privacy Shield). Privacy Shield provides U.S. businesses with a legally recognized mechanism for receiving personal data in the United States from the EU. In its complaint against SecurTest, the FTC alleges that for several months SecurTest falsely claimed on its website that it complied with Privacy Shield when in fact it had not self-certified its Privacy Shield compliance with the U.S. Department of Commerce. The terms of the FTC’s decision and order prohibit SecurTest from misrepresenting its Privacy Shield compliance status and require it to submit to compliance monitoring and recordkeeping requirements.

Along with announcing its settlement with SecurTest, the FTC noted that, rather than beginning enforcement proceedings, it has issued a number of warning letters to businesses over similar alleged inaccurate statements about compliance with cross-border privacy and data security transfer programs like Privacy Shield:Continue Reading FTC settlement and warning letters over cross-border personal data transfers