EU rules UK data protection is “adequate”
The European Commission has recognized Britain’s privacy rules as “adequate,” in a long-waited decision that will allow EU-U.K. data flows to continue after Brexit.
In a statement, the EU’s executive arm said the decision meant EU citizens’ personal information would be treated with the same level of protection as it would inside the bloc when transferred to the U.K.
The so-called “adequacy” decision has been adopted under two pieces of EU law; the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Law Enforcement Directive.
However, for the first time, the EU has included a “sunset clause” which means the “adequacy” decision is limited to four years and will be reviewed.
The European Commission vice-president Věra Jourová said: “The UK has left the EU but today its legal regime of protecting personal data is as it was. Because of this, we are adopting these adequacy decisions today.”
“At the same time, we have listened very carefully to the concerns expressed by the parliament, the member states and the European Data Protection Board, in particular on the possibility of future divergence from our standards in the UK’s privacy framework.”
She added: “We are talking here about a fundamental right of EU citizens that we have a duty to protect. This is why we have significant safeguards and if anything changes on the UK side, we will intervene.”
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