With Brexit looming and indecision still palpable, search firms may well be considering what the implications of Brexit are for the running of the business. The trials and tribulations of Theresa May and her Brexit transition deal continue. Invenias are carefully monitoring the situation to ensure our customers can continue to transfer data internationally, deal or no deal.
The UK government issued guidance in September on data protection in the event of a no deal Brexit on 29th March, whereby the UK would become a third country as far as the EU is concerned. So, what does this guidance mean for search firms?
- The GDPR will continue to apply as the UK Data Protection Act 2018 would remain in place, and the EU Withdrawal Act would incorporate the GDPR into UK law to sit alongside it – but there will be some impact on international transfers of data;
- For transfers of data from the UK to the EU, the government have confirmed that “the UK would at the point of exit continue to allow the free flow of personal data from the UK to the EU”, the implication being that transfers out of the UK to the EU, for example to Invenias’ EU based data centres should not be impacted;
- For transfers of personal data from the EU to the UK, the guidance acknowledges that there will be changes and that UK organisations need to act to ensure that there is a legal basis in place for the transfer of data from EU organisations to Invenias in the UK. The most relevant basis of transfer for the Invenias business would be standard contractual clauses (often referred to as model clauses);
- In addition, in the Political Declaration that has been agreed with the EU and forms part of the vote in Parliament, there is a clear statement that the EU and UK are committed to ensuring a high level of personal data protection to facilitate such flows between them. There is a clear desire from both sides to facilitate free flows of data, as per the Political Declaration.
With a looming vote on the 11th December, customers need not worry. Rest assured, Invenias will continue to operate in accordance with the standards set by the GDPR and we stand ready to put model clauses in place with our EU based customers in the event of a no-deal Brexit to ensure that they can continue to legally transfer personal data to Invenias. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, Invenias will allow search firms to operate business as usual.