European probes into whether Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud-based services infringe the single market’s tough privacy rules have once again shone a spotlight on how—and when—the United States and the European Union intend to come up with a practical solution to ensure trans-Atlantic data transfers are fully compliant and safe.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...