November 7, 2017

The Committee’s report looked at the four elements of the EU’s data protection package in order to examine the options available to the Government for securing uninterrupted data flows between the UK and EU after the UK leaves the EU.

The Government says that it will “continue to align its own data protection framework with that of the EU”, to enable the UK to forge a strong future partnership with the EU and ensure continued law enforcement and security co-operation post-Brexit.

The Government says that it would like to see a future UK-EU partnership that:

• maintains the free flow of personal data between the UK and the EU;
• offers sufficient stability and confidence for businesses, public authorities and individuals;
• provides 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;
• continues to protect the privacy of individuals;
• respects 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; and
• does not impose unnecessary additional costs to business.

As for the Committee’s recommendation that the UK needs to retain influence on EU rules, the Government said that it is “open to exploring a model which allows the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to remain fully involved in the EU Data Protection Board which would of course reassure businesses and other stakeholders.”

As for the EU-US Privacy Shield and the EU-US Umbrella Agreement, both of which will cease to apply to the UK post-Brexit, the Government said that it wants to “ensure that data flows between the UK and third countries with EU adequacy decisions, such as the United States, can continue on the same basis.”

As regards data protection on a global level, the Government said that its ambition is for the UK to remain “a global leader on data protection by promoting both the flow of data internationally and appropriate high standards of data protection.” To read the Government’s response in full, click here.