The Final Week For Personal Data Transfers Relying On The EU Standard Contractual Clauses

The EU standard contractual clauses / model clauses ("SCCs") were introduced in 1995 in the EU Data Protection Directive and became the primary means for organisations to share personal data outside of the European Economic Area ("EEA") with countries that were not deemed to have adequate standards in relation to processing personal data (known as "Restricted Transfers"). The SCCs were useful as parties could quickly implement an EU Commission-approved set of terms to facilitate international data transfers due to the fact that the SCCs could not be negotiated by the parties.

With the introduction of the GDPR in 2018, it became apparent that the SCCs were no longer fit for purpose and on 22 September 2022, UK organisations were prohibited from entering into any new agreements using the SCCs.