British data protection laws will be closely aligned with the EU’s post-Brexit allowing personal data to continue to move back and forth while adhering to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force from May 2018
The EU recently updated its data protection framework to create the GDPR which covers the processing of personal data within the scope of EU law.
UK business and public authorities may still be required to follow GDPR standards following the date of withdrawal from the EU.
The UK government has previously announced plans to create a UK Data Protection Bill which will ensure the UK’s framework is aligned with the updated EU framework.
Government has also considered a unique approach to data protection which would allow data to continue to be exchanged with the EU to ensure ongoing competitiveness, innovation and job creation.
The EU-UK data model must:
- allow data to continue to be exchanged in a safe and properly regulated way;
- offer sufficient stability and confidence for businesses, public authorities and individuals;
- provide for ongoing regulatory cooperation between the EU and the UK on current and future data protection issues, building on the positive opportunity of a partnership between global leaders on data protection;
- continue to protect the privacy of individuals;
- respect UK sovereignty, including the UK’s ability to protect the security of its citizens and its ability to maintain and develop its position as a leader in data protection;
- not impose unnecessary additional costs to business; and
- be based on objective consideration of evidence.
In 2015 the UK’s digital economy was worth £118.4bn (7.1% of total Gross Value Added (GVA)), therefore disruption the cross-border data flows could be costly.
Matt Hancock, Minister for Digital, said: ‘In the modern world, data flows increasingly underpin trade, business and all relationships. We want the secure flow of data to be unhindered in the future as we leave the EU.So a strong future data relationship between the UK and EU, based on aligned data protection rules, is in our mutual interest.
‘The UK is leading the way on modern data protection laws and we have worked closely with our EU partners to develop world leading data protection standards.
‘The paper published today sets out how we think our data relationship should continue. Our goal is to combine strong privacy rules with a relationship that allows flexibility, to give consumers and businesses certainty in their use of data.’
The exchange and protection of personal data: a future partnership paper is available here.
