Personal data protection issues after the end of the BREXIT transition period

On 15-16 December 2020, the European Data Protection Board (hereinafter – EDPB) issued a statement on the end of the Brexit transition period.

The statement addressed the following key issues:

  • For the United Kingdom, the transitional period ends in 31st December 2020. On 1st January 2021, i.e., at the end of the transitional period, any exchange of personal data between legal persons and entities operating in the EEA located in the United Kingdom will be considered as a transfer of personal data to a third country and will therefore be subject to the provisions of Chapter V of the GDPR.
  • In the absence of a Commission decision on the adequacy of the United Kingdom, the transfer of personal data to the United Kingdom will be subject to the requirement of adequate protection of personal data in Article 46 of the GDPR and Article 49 of the GDPR to derogate from the general rules for transfers outside the EEA. The EDPB noted that the transfer of personal data in accordance with the provisions of Article 49 GDPR is considered to be more exceptional and applies more to processing cases that are incidental and non-repetitive.
  • The “one-stop shop” mechanism established by the GDPR to ensure cooperation between data protection authorities when processing data across borders will no longer apply to United Kingdom data protection supervisory authorities.
  • Legal entities in the United Kingdom may change their decision to change their main establishment in accordance with Article 4 (16) of the GDPR.
  • The controllers and processors not established in the EEA but whose processing activities are subject to the application of the GDPR are required to designate a representative in the Union in accordance with Article 27 of the GDPR. Such a representative would be considered as a contact person with the supervisory authorities and the data subjects.

For more information on the transfer of personal data to the United Kingdom after the end of the transitional period, click here.

For more information or consultation on data protection, please consult the ECOVIS ProventusLaw specialists.

Prepared by ECOVIS ProventusLaw Attorney-at-Law Loreta Andziulytė, ECOVIS ProventusLaw Assistant Attorney-at-Law Brigida Bacienė and ECOVIS ProventusLaw Lawyer Andrius Karmonas

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