New government guidance on cross-border flows of personal data
is helpful, but serious questions remain unanswered.
The free movement of personal data within the European Union has
been one of the bedrocks of data protection law since 1995, and the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) maintains this as a key
objective. As the recitals to GDPR explain, such free movement
contributes to economic and social progress and to the
strengthening and convergence of economies within the EU's
internal market.
However, since June 2016, when the United Kingdom voted to leave
the European Union, a question which has concerned and vexed data
protection lawyers, as well as many businesses, is what the
UK's position on the transfer of personal data between EU
states and a post-Brexit UK will be. In particular, a
"No-deal" Brexit scenario presents immediate and pressing
concerns for anyone in the UK who needs to continue receive
personal data from anyone in the EU.