HomeWinBuzzer NewsPrivacy Shield Now Covers 200 Companies, Inlcuding Microsoft

Privacy Shield Now Covers 200 Companies, Inlcuding Microsoft

200 companies are now registered for the new Privacy Shield framework, and among them is Microsoft, who has also listed a number of subsidiaries.

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announced their decision to join the Privacy Sheild initiative early last month. Since then, the company has come under fire from French authorities over still using the previous “safe harbor” framework to transfer customer data.

As of today, the company has now officially registered, alongside 200 other companies. Out of those, the ITA has only accepted ninety, causing some concern over the processing speed.

The registration covers Microsoft branches across the world, including:

  • “Microsoft Caribbean, Inc.
  • Microsoft Corporation
  • Microsoft India Corporation
  • Microsoft Licensing, GP
  • Microsoft Mobile Inc.
  • Microsoft Online, Inc.
  • Microsoft Online, Inc.
  • Microsoft Online, Inc.
  • Acompli, Inc.
  • Blue Stripe Software, Inc.
  • Double Labs, Inc.
  • Equivio Inc.
  • FieldOne Systems LLC
  • Incent Games, Inc.
  • MetricsHub, Inc.
  • Parature, Inc.
  • Revolution Analytics, Inc.
  • Sunrise Atelier, Inc.
  • Vexcel Corporation
  • VoloMetrix, Inc.”

Microsoft's Vice President for EU Government Affairs John Frank has previously praised the agreement, stating “this is an important achievement for the privacy rights of citizen's across Europe and for companies…that rely on international data flows to run their business.”

One of the most important aspects of the Privacy Sheild framework is its annual clause. Each year it will be evaluated to discern if it meets current standards and new technology. Frank believes this “ensures that enduring values remain protected at a time when technology changes ever more quickly.”

Other Registered Companies

Another registered company is Salesforce.com, a firm that has had a slightly up and down relationship with Microsoft of late.

The two tech giants have been big collaborators over the years. Lately, however, they both entered into a bidding war over LinkedIn. More recently, Salesforce acquired Quip, a direct competitor to Microsoft's Office.

Quip offers something a little different to Office, and so does their Privacy Shield registration. Rather than listing individual branches, it simply covers the main company and all of its U.S. subsidiaries.

 is notably not yet on the Privacy Shield list. The company's registration to Safe Harbor is what led to the collapse of the previous framework, following a complaint from user Max Shrems. He told Fortune that he expected many companies would avoid registration due to legal uncertainty, and in Facebook's case, he appears to be right.

Shrems told Fortune that he expected many companies would avoid registration due to legal uncertainty, and in Facebook's case, he seems to be correct.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has been very open in its adoption. As condemnation over their Windows 10 telemetry collection continues, the company is ensuring other data is transferred in an ethical way.

Ryan Maskell
Ryan Maskellhttps://ryanmaskell.co.uk
Ryan has had a passion for gaming and technology since early childhood. Fusing the skills from his Creative Writing and Publishing degree with profound technical knowledge, he enjoys covering news about Microsoft. As an avid writer, he is also working on his debut novel.