Data flows post Brexit: “Map out your data, do it now”, says privacy experts

UK businesses should work on the assumption that the UK will not receive an adequacy decision from the EU after the Brexit transitionary period has ended, according to a panel of privacy experts at Last Thursday in Privacy on 30 July (this month sponsored by Microsoft).

The panel, discussing the future of data flows post Brexit, agreed that the UK is in deep water when it comes to receiving an adequacy decision from the EU that would allow for a continuation of the free flow of data to and from the EU. Following the Schrems II ruling, UK companies should assume that the UK is going to become a third country and steps must be taken before the decision is made. 

According to Andrew Sharp, practice lead at Securys, the most obvious first step for UK companies that transfer data outside the EU is to map carefully where their data is flowing. Additionally, it will be important for these companies to engage with vendors and investigate their plans to take additional steps. He said: “It would not be prudent at this point to wait for an adequacy decision; you need to be doing something.”

Perry Keller, reader in Media and Information Law at King’s College London, added that supplemental measures such as encryption and transparency of when the data is being accessed after it has been transferred is a costly position for controllers. 

Full article on https://gdpr.report/news/2020/08/05/data-flows-post-brexit-map-out-your-data-do-it-now-says-privacy-experts/

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