What Does The Brexit Vote Mean For UK Data Protection?

US companies and policy makers will no doubt spend a good chunk of the day today considering the possible implications for them of yesterday's UK vote for Brexit. Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, has issued a statement to calm the markets. I will content myself with a much more modest statement to calm US companies who have been working hard to fill in the gap left by the demise of Safe Harbor and to prepare for the implementation of the GDPR in May 2017: Brexit will have very little, if any, impact on the UK's approach to data protection laws, at least in the medium term (say the next five years or so).

Why is that? First and foremost, the UK has no interest in doing anything that would impede the flow of personal data between the UK and the rest of Europe. The GDPR, like the current laws under the Data Protection Directive, provides a pathway of least resistance for data transfers: If a country's laws "ensure[ ] an adequate level of protection" for the