Q. Does the fee cover our application process with the Department of Commerce as well, or is that handled separately?

A. Separately. You must register with the Department of Commerce in addition to enrolling in the Insights Association Privacy Shield Program. This is done by creating an online account at www.privacyshield.gov. You must pay the DOC fee directly to Commerce and it is separate from the fee paid to the Insights Association for the dispute resolution services provided through the Insights Association Privacy Shield Program.

Q. Once we begin the process through the Insights Association, how long does the review and certification typically take?

A. It typically takes the Insights Association between 2-3 days (depending on how quickly material is provided) to review your company's privacy policy. The process with the Commerce Department is difficult to estimate with certainty since GDPR went into effect on May 25. It will likely take 4-6 weeks, on average, to hear back from the Privacy Shield reviewer working on your application and policy.

Q. What are the steps involved to be accepted into the Insights Association Privacy Shield Program?

A.  You will have to:

1.        Be a company member of the Insights Association (or have applied and have no apparent obstacles to membership)
2.        Submit the application to the Insights Association Privacy Shield Program found here
3.        Ensure that all relevant privacy policies are in compliance with the Framework(s) – There are a couple ways we can do this - we will send you a checklist and/or you send to us all relevant privacy policies for review and they will be returned with necessary changes indicated.
4.        Once your privacy policies are approved and you are accepted into our program you go on to www.privacyshield.gov and register. The DOC will review your posted policies and check with the Insights Association to confirm your participation. If all is in order they will register you.

Q. Are there any other fees involved?

A. Yes. Beyond the Insights Association program fee and the DOC fee for EU-US, there is an additional fee to DOC if you want to self-certify to the Swiss Framework. This fee is outside of the Insights Association annual program fee.

It is also the member company’s responsibility to pay into the Arbitral Fund. This fee is outside of the Insights Association annual program fee. More information, and the payment portal, can be found here: http://go.adr.org/privacyshieldfund.html

Beyond those annual fees, the only additional fees would arise if you receive a complaint that persists to the arbitration stage, which is very unlikely.