European Commission has adopted two adequacy decisions for United Kingdom with respect to data protection on June 28, 2021. This was announced vide Press Release dated June 28, 2021.
The two adequacy decisions are made with respect to one under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the other for the Law Enforcement Directive. The decisions aim to facilitate free flow of personal data from the European Union to the United Kingdom where it benefits from an essentially equivalent level of protection to that guaranteed under EU law. The adequacy decisions also enable the correct implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which foresees the exchange of personal information, for example for cooperation on judicial matters. Both adequacy decisions include strong safeguards in case of future divergence such as a ‘sunset clause’, which limits the duration of adequacy to four years. The decisions may be renewed after this four-year period, provided the Commission deems that the UK continues to ensure an adequate level of data protection.
*Tanvi Singh, Editorial Assistant has put this story together.