LITTLE ROCK, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Acxiom® (NASDAQ: ACXM), an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company, today announced its certification to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. Certifying for Privacy Shield extends the data protection Acxiom and LiveRamp™, an Acxiom company, offer their clients by adding important safeguards to the transfer of personal data from Europe to the U.S.

Acxiom is among the first global companies to achieve certification and joins others listed on the Privacy Shield website that have publicly committed to comply with the framework's data protection requirements. To serve more than 7,000 global clients, Acxiom and LiveRamp have made extensive infrastructure investments. These include Global Service Centers in Europe and China and offices throughout the U.S. and internationally, including several European locations.

“We are pleased to self-certify and participate in the Privacy Shield program,” said Warren Jenson, president at Acxiom International. “We believe it is an important enhancement of our data protection program enabling us to offer ‘gold standard’ protections to our European client and partner community. Using data ethically builds trust, and certifying for the Shield underscores our ongoing commitment to the ethical use, protection and stewardship of data.”

Developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission, the Privacy Shield enables companies on both sides of the Atlantic to rely on the Shield as the legal transfer mechanism for personal data from the EU to the U.S. The Shield provides important legal certainty, clearing up confusion that companies have struggled with since the invalidation of the Shield’s predecessor, the EU Safe Harbor, in the fall of 2015.

“The Shield is a collaboration between the U.S. and EU that meets tests recently laid out by the highest EU court,” said Sheila Colclasure, vice president global executive for privacy and public policy for Acxiom and LiveRamp. “Privacy Shield reflects EU thinking and values for protecting personal data that cross-borders into the U.S., which is important to us, our clients and partners and the digital marketing ecosystem.”

As a complement to Privacy Shield, Acxiom will continue to administer a robust data protection program that includes other privacy enhancing measures, such as encryption, hashing and de-identification of personal data before transatlantic data transfer occurs. For certain data outside the scope of the Shield, other legal data transfer mechanisms will be used, including standard contractual clauses.

Acxiom has a long and established history of delivering solutions to the marketplace that include protections for consumer data. In addition to being the first company to hire a chief privacy officer more than 20 years ago, Acxiom was the first to create a portal (www.aboutthedata.com) that gives consumers the ability to manage how their data is used in Acxiom products, and the first to create a certified Safe Haven® environment with controls designed to ensure that data is managed ethically and in accordance with regional data protection requirements.

For more information about Privacy Shield, visit www.privacyshield.gov.

About Acxiom

Acxiom is an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company that uniquely fuses trust, experience and scale to fuel data-driven results. For over 40 years, Acxiom has been an innovator in harnessing the most important sources and uses of data to strengthen connections between people, businesses and their partners. Utilizing a channel and media neutral approach, we leverage cutting-edge, data-oriented products and services to maximize customer value. Every week, Acxiom powers more than a trillion transactions that enable better living for people and better results for our 7,000+ global clients. For more information about Acxiom, visit Acxiom.com. Acxiom is a registered trademark of Acxiom Corporation.

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