industry focus
UK needs to provide clarity on data plans post-Brexit
The UK Government should step up to the plate in terms of parity with the European Union (EU) with respect to data protection in order to ensure unhindered data flows between the UK and the EU post-Brexit, according to the EU Home Affairs Sub Committee.
The move would offer stability and certainty for businesses and maintain police and security co-operation, according to the committee’s report published this month.
“Maintaining unhindered and uninterrupted data flows between the UK and the EU after Brexit is an important aim, as any arrangement that results in greater friction could present a non-tariff trade barrier that places the UK at a competitive disadvantage and hinders police and security co-operation,” the report states.
Although the UK Government has stated that it “will seek to maintain the stability of data transfers between the EU, Member States and the UK”, little detail has so far been offered in terms of how it plans to deliver this outcome.
By looking at four elements of the EU’s data protection package in its report, the EU Home Affairs Committee examines the options available to the Government for securing uninterrupted data flows between the UK and the EU after the UK leaves the European Union.
These elements are the General Data Protection Regulation, the Police and Criminal Justice Directive, the EU-US Privacy Shield and the EU-US Umbrella Agreement.
Lord Jay of Ewelme, chairman of the EU Home Affairs Committee, stated: “The volume of data stored electronically and moving across borders has grown hugely over the last 20 years. Between 2005 and 2012 alone, Internet traffic across borders increased eighteen-fold. The maintenance of unhindered data flows is therefore crucial, both for business and for effective police co-operation.”
Lord Jay continued: “The Committee was concerned by the lack of detail on how the Government plans to maintain unhindered data flows post-Brexit. It was concerned, too, by the risk that EU and UK data protection rules could diverge over time when the UK has left the EU. To avoid this, the Committee urges the Government to secure a continuing role for the Information Commissioner’s Office on the European Data Protection Board.”
