End Of Brexit Transition Period: Privacy Implications

The transition period following Brexit, during which a full status quo was applied in the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, ended on 31 December 2020. At the eleventh hour, on 24 December 2020, the two sides concluded the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the TCA), outlining in principle the UK's future relationship with the EU. There are three issues in relation to data protection that businesses should be aware of in light of the TCA and the new UK-EU relationship.

1. The UK data protection laws

Regulation (EU) 2016/679, i.e. the EU General Data Protection Regulation (the EU GDPR), in its current form, has been retained as part of UK domestic law; and, in that current form, is now called the "UK GDPR." The UK GDPR sits alongside the UK Data Protection Act 2018, as amended. Other EU privacy laws, such as the ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications), have also been transposed into UK