On January 11, 2017, the Swiss Federal Council issued a press release announcing the creation of a new framework to support cross-border data transfers of personal data from Switzerland to the US.

After the EU-US Safe Harbor was invalidated by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in October 2015, European Union countries and the US adopted the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement, which provides a legal framework for transferring European's personal data to the US. For more information on the adoption of the Privacy Shield agreement, see Legal Update, EU-US Privacy Shield Adoption Announced: Steps to Take Now.

This agreement between Switzerland and the US will replace the previous Safe Harbor arrangement, and mimics the EU-US Privacy Shield. American companies that certify their data processing standards meet Swiss requirements will be permitted to transfer personal data to the US.