STEP 1
Determine whether your business is covered by the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework. To be eligible to participate in the Safe Harbor, you must answer “yes” to both of the following questions:
- Do your business practices fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the Department of Transportation (DoT)? If you are uncertain as to whether your organization falls within the jurisdiction of either the FTC or the DoT, it is recommended that you contact those agencies for further guidance.
- Are you a US organization that receives or processes personally identifiable information either directly or indirectly from Europe (including all EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein); or are you a subsidiary or affiliate that processes this information in the US?
STEP 2
Complete the BBB EU Safe Harbor
application. To complete the application, you will be asked to provide contact information for a corporate officer (with signatory authority for your organization), as well as complaint and billing contacts. You will also need to know your sales revenue and a Web site address for your corporate privacy notice (if your privacy notice is not yet online, you may mail a copy to BBB with your application documents). We understand you may need to revise your privacy notice to incorporate the Safe Harbor Principles (see step 3 below). You may complete the application and make the necessary privacy notice revisions prior to self-certifying with the Department of Commerce. Please read the
Rules document and
Participation Agreement before submitting the application online.
On completing the application, we will provide you with a reference number and an annual fee amount based on our
fee schedule for your business’s participation in the program. You will also receive a cover letter containing this information and a completed Participation Agreement to be signed by your designated corporate officer. Print the cover letter and Agreement and mail your check along with the signed Agreement and cover letter to the address provided.
Your application will be reviewed. If any additional information is required we will contact you. Once the review process is complete you will receive an email notification indicating that your company has been accepted into the program.
STEP 3
Modify your privacy notice and internal privacy policy to conform to the seven Safe Harbor Privacy Principles. Your privacy notice must specifically reference your organization’s adherence to the Safe Harbor Principles and must be available to the public. Read the Department of Commerce Guide to Self-Certification for sample privacy statements and additional information.
STEP 4
Self-certify with the Department of Commerce. To be assured of safe harbor benefits, please self-certify with the Department of Commerce within 30 days of our approval of your application. You may complete your self-certification online at www.export.gov/safeharbor. Click here for a checklist of the information you will need for self-certification.
IMPORTANT: In the DOC’s “independent recourse mechanism” field, please state “BBB EU Safe Harbor” and link to our safe harbor page: www.bbb.org/us/safe-harbor. Please do not list the BBB under “privacy program” (you may simply indicate “none” for this field as none is required). After completing the self-certification, you may follow the instructions for displaying the DOC’s EU Safe Harbor certification mark on your Web site.
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