Austin, TX (PRWEB) July 02, 2014
OnRamp, an industry leading data center services provider with facilities located in Austin, Texas and Raleigh, North Carolina has announced today that it has self-certified under The United States of America (U.S.)-European Union (EU) Safe Harbor Framework. The decision to undergo the Safe Harbor self-certification process was considered the next logical step in the companys ongoing efforts to assist its customers in maintaining privacy and security compliance standards across multiple industries while utilizing OnRamps hybrid hosting solutions. OnRamps participation in Safe Harbor attests to the companys ability to provide adequate privacy protection for its customers data in accordance with EU standards.
In October of 1998, the European Commissions Directive on Data Protection prohibited the transfer of personal data to non-EU countries, essentially putting a bar on businesses that would come in contact with data from EU citizens due to the differences in privacy protection methods applied on an international level. Bridging the gap between regulations issued in the U.S. and EU for data privacy, the Safe Harbor Framework was created by the Department of Commerce in coordination with the European Commission in the year 2000 to allow U.S. businesses a means of self-certifying their compliance with European privacy standards.
Organizations seeking Safe Harbor must annually self-certify that they agree to adhere to the Safe Harbor requirements which the Federal Trade Commission enforces. As such, OnRamp has developed its own self-regulatory privacy program that adheres to the seven privacy principles: Notice, Choice, Onward Transfer (Transfers to Third Parties), Access, Security, Data Integrity, and Enforcement and the 15 FAQs that make up the framework.
As a data center services provider with years of experience delivering secure, hybrid, computing solutions to assist customers in meeting the rigorous compliance requirements associated with HIPAA, PCI, SOX, FISMA and FERPA, OnRamps people, processes and technology comprehensively ensure compliance. OnRamp Founder and compliancy expert, Chad Kissinger adds …this not only applies to the data we store on behalf of our customers, but also for the data we collect about our customers as part of our regular business practice. Kissinger went on to state that OnRamp assists companies in the financial, e-commerce, healthcare and other industries with compliance requirements by providing for the confidentiality, availability and integrity of their data when hosted at OnRamps enterprise-class data center facilities. Our ability to assist with compliance requirements makes us highly adept at meeting and maintaining the Safe Harbor guidelines. This framework acts as a supplement to our existing policies, processes and procedures which we have created to govern our relationship with our clients.
Through OnRamps self-certification of compliance with the Safe Harbor Framework, the company has reaffirmed its commitment to data security by formalizing rigorous privacy principles for processing the personally identifiable information of its clients in the United States and sets a standard for its dealing with customers from all 28 EU member states.
To learn more about Safe Harbor, visit the U.S.EU Safe Harbor Overview available on the export.gov website.
About OnRamp
OnRamp provides computing infrastructure for companies that require high levels of security and availability. As an SSAE 16 SOC I Type II audited, PCI Level 1 and HIPAA compliant company, OnRamp operates multiple enterprise class data centers to deploy hybrid solutions built on cloud-delivered computing capacity, managed hosting and colocation services. OnRamp specializes in working with companies to ensure compliance in the healthcare, financial services and other industries with high security needs, helping them meet the rigorous compliance requirements associated with HIPAA, PCI, SOX, FISMA and FERPA.
