Just as everyone was getting to grips with GDPR, many are now wondering how will Brexit impact GDPR and what complexities it will bring to an already complicated piece of legislation.
In the event that the UK exits the EU without a deal, the flow of data and personal information between the UK and Ireland would be prohibited, without prior specific agreements in place.
At present, businesses can freely transfer personal data between Britain and Ireland. In the absence of a withdrawal agreement the UK will be considered a “Third Country” under current Data Protection Legislation.
There are strict rules laid down by the EU to protect personal data once it has been shared with a third country, and as a result, any Irish firm who may transfer data to the UK will have to put in place specific safeguards to protect the data.
The European Commission has approved a set of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC’s) that can be inserted into existing contracts or used as new stand-alone contracts between the Irish data controller and the UK based recipient. The Data Protection Commission has also published a SCC templates for businesses to use.
For more information or for any further details please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to advise.