Tag: Brexit

UK Inadequacy?

Late last week the government issued a formal statement about the position of the UK in relation to GDPR in a no deal scenario. As expected conditions for the flow of data between the UK and the EEA are a primary concern in this situation. Transfers of data outside the EEA must be safeguarded. Of all the safeguards available, the ideal for the UK is to gain adequacy status.

Regardless of Brexit, it can take some time for the EC to review whether adequacy status may be granted. Earlier this year the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham spoke in Select Committee about the need to seek a ruling about adequacy sooner rather than later to ensure a smooth transition. and also expressed doubts about whether the UK may attain adequacy.

There are some impediments to UK adequacy, namely the so-called Snooper Charter which has been challenged by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The ECJ has ruled that the “general and indiscriminate” retention of electronic communications allowed under the Charter to be illegal.

Also, once the UK leaves the EU, it will no longer be covered by the EU-US Privacy Shield provision for transfer to the United States. There is concern that any data sharing agreement between the US and UK will not be robust enough to satisfy European requirements.

To be fair, this was always going to happen. With Brexit, the UK was always going to have to come up with a strategy for data sharing across the EEA. But a no deal outcome may accelerate the process, meaning this must be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Without the certainty of an adequacy ruling any time soon, government advice is to begin preparing  for the use of Model Clauses and Binding Corporate Rules (BCR) to manage data transfers to the UK. Each of these may involve quite a lead in time for organisations to set up, so the time to act is now.

Uncertainty and Risk

What does that mean for organisations in the UK that rely on GDPR to support free flow of information within the EEA? It’s a risk, and one you should be ready for. While there is uncertainty about the future of data transfer arrangements between the EEA and the UK, it is worth beginning to prepare for the worst.

How do you prepare? The first step is a risk assessment. Organisations that have already worked to comply with GDPR will have a head start, as they will understand their data flows and have a strategy to employ safeguards to transfer. In effect, those who have records of processing and GDPR action plans will have already completed much of the analysis they need to pinpoint areas that need to be addressed.

If you haven’t done this already, and you do share personal data with the EU, understanding where your personal data is, where it comes from and where it is sent is now urgent.

With the future so uncertain, and such a high noise to signal ratio on the topic of Brexit in the media it is so tempting to switch off and pretend it is not happening. But for UK businesses sleepwalking into a no-deal/no data situation is not an option. If not already started, risk assessment, mitigation and safeguard arrangements need to start now.