The EU acknowledged on Monday that Britain’s privacy rules apply to its own privacy rules. This key measure will allow the US to continue the flow of data after Brexit.
The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, stated that the decision means that the personal information of EU citizens will be protected to the same level as within the EU when transferred to the UK.
Companies are It is concerned that the UK and the EU will not agree on data equivalence and put billions of dollars worth of digital commerce at risk.
When the two parties reached a post-Brexit trade deal in December, this did not include the US deal. Data sufficiency. Instead, they introduced a six-month temporary fix to keep data flowing across borders. The UK has recognized that the data policies of the EU member states are adequate.
On Monday, the Commission made two “sufficient” decisions, acknowledging that UK data protection law is equivalent to EU law, including the General Data Protection Regulation, strict privacy reforms introduced in 2018, and previous laws regarding the processing of related data. To a criminal offense
But for the first time, the European Union has added a “sunset clause”, which means that the decision will expire after four years of effective. If the United Kingdom significantly deviates from the EU in terms of data standards during this period, the commission said it may intervene.
“The U.K. has left the EU but today its legal regime of protecting personal data is as it was,” said Věra Jourová, vice-president for values and transparency at the European Commission
“At the same time, we have listened very carefully to the concerns expressed by the Parliament, the Members States and the European Data Protection Board, in particular on the possibility of future divergence from our standards in the U.K.’s privacy framework,” she added.
Oliver Dowden, Britain’s secretary of state for digital, said:“After more than a year of constructive talks it is right the European Union has formally recognised the U.K.’s high data protection standards.”
“This will be welcome news to businesses, support continued cooperation between the U.K. and the EU and help law enforcement authorities keep people safe,” he added.
The government said it is now plotting further trade deals and data adequacy agreements with other countries.
“The U.K. must also now move to complete the development of its own international data transfer regime in order to allow companies in the U.K. not just to exchange data with the EU, but also to be able to access opportunities across the world,” said Julian David, CEO of industry group techUK.
