Becomes just the second company ever to receive Binding Corporate
Rules (BCR) approval through Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC)
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Zendesk, Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) a leading provider of software for better
customer relationships, today announced that it has completed the EU
approval process with the Irish DPC (peer reviewed by both the UK
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Dutch Data Protection
Authority (DPA)) for its global Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) as data
processor and controller. This significant regulatory approval validates
Zendesk’s implementation of the highest possible standards for
protecting personal data globally, covering both the personal data of
its customers and its employees.
“We firmly believe in delivering certainty to our customers for the
protection of their data. The approval of our BCRs is significant for us
and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to protecting the privacy of
personal data at Zendesk,” said John Geschke, general counsel and senior
vice president of administration at Zendesk. “In addition to our BCRs,
Zendesk is a certified signatory to EU-US Privacy Shield and at the
request of its customers will enter into the Zendesk Data Processing
Agreement, which includes EU model clauses.”
“This provides further confirmation that Zendesk is a global business
that values security and data privacy at its core,” said John Crossan,
vice president EMEA at Zendesk. “As a result of the Irish DPC’s approval
of our BCRs, companies across Europe know when they deal with Zendesk,
they are dealing with one of the most secure customer relationship
software providers globally with the highest data protection standards
available today.”
BCRs are internal company-specific data protection policies enabling a
global business the ability to transfer personal data within the company
(as a data controller) and to process personal data of its EEA customers
on an intra-group basis anywhere in the world (as a data processor).
Approval is based on rigorous criteria set out by the European Data
Protection Agencies and the process required a thorough review of
Zendesk’s global data privacy compliance policies and procedures as
required by the EU DPAs. Zendesk is one of only a few software companies
in the world to have received approval for its BCRs; and just the second
company ever to receive approval from the Irish DPC. It was supported
throughout the BCR regulatory approval process by leading European law
firm, Fieldfisher.
BCRs make it possible for multinational companies to standardise their
practices relating to the protection of personal data by assuring an
identical level of protection and security, benchmarked against rigorous
European data protection standards, regardless of where the customer is
based in the world. They demonstrate that data protection is integral to
the way a company carries out its business and are validation that the
company has the highest possible standard for dealing with data. This
provides assurance for even the most privacy and security conscious
companies around the world when working with Zendesk.
A Forrester report into EU data protection laws highlighted that
implementing BCRs demonstrates additional data protection dedication and
can ease data transfer concerns for EU decision-makers. A growing number
of multinational companies believe that BCRs are an appropriate and
practical mechanism for managing transborder flows of personal data.
Zendesk has more than 101,000 paid customer accounts globally across a
range of industries. In the EMEA region, the company has over 35,000
paid customer accounts in EMEA growing at over 30 percent year over year
to end March 2017 including John Lewis, Trustpilot, Lampiris and e-Boks.
In addition to the approval of its BCRs, Zendesk has achieved its SOC 2
Type II compliance. Zendesk also complies with ISO 27001:2013 and
27018:2014, the standard for protecting Personally Identifiable
Information (PII) in the cloud, set forth by the International Standards
Organisation. Also, Zendesk, Inc. has been approved to sell its cloud
software services on the UK Government Digital Marketplace's 'G-Cloud 9'
framework.
About Zendesk
Zendesk builds software for better customer relationships. It empowers
organizations to improve customer engagement and better understand their
customers. More than 101,000 paid customer accounts in over 160
countries and territories use Zendesk products. Based in San Francisco,
Zendesk has operations in the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia,
and South America. Learn more at www.zendesk.com.
Source: Zendesk, Inc.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170606005033/en/
Source: Zendesk, Inc.