UK seeks data transfer pact with EU after Brexit1 min read

The UK is seeking a data transfer pact with the EU, Dr Karen Mc Cullagh, a legal expert at the University of East Anglia said “It will help businesses who need to be able to plan their future – they need a sense of what the law will be,”

Digital minister Matt Hancock said “the UK was leading the way on modern data protection laws and had worked closely with EU partners to develop world-leading data protection standards. 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 paper puts forward the UK government’s position that a UK-EU model for exchanging and protecting data will be essential to maintain a “deep and special partnership” – a phrase used four times in the document.

The goal of the data transfer pact is to combine strong privacy rules with a relationship that allows flexibility, to give consumers and businesses certainty in their use of data.