The House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee today
publishes its report Brexit: the EU data protection
package. The Committee warns that greater friction
around data transfers between the UK and the EU after Brexit
could present a non-tariff trade barrier and could hinder police
and security cooperation.
The Government has said that it wishes to secure "unhindered" and
"uninterrupted" flows of data between the UK and the EU
post-Brexit, to facilitate both trade and cooperation in law
enforcement - both of which rely on shared standards of data
protection. If the Government’s objectives are not
achieved, the UK could be put at a competitive
disadvantage and the police could lose access to information and
intelligence mechanisms. These are currently sourced through our
membership of Eurojust and Europol and are vital for UK law
enforcement.
The Committee recommends that the most effective way to achieve
unhindered and uninterrupted flows of data would be to secure an
‘adequacy decision’, which would confirm that the UK’s data
protection rules offered an equivalent standard of protection as
the EU’s. This would provide the least burdensome and most
comprehensive platform for sharing data with the EU, and offer
stability and certainty for businesses. Alternative
mechanisms to allow data to flow out of the EU for commercial
purposes are less effective than an adequacy decision.
If an adequacy decision is not agreed, the Committee warns that
there are no apparent fall-back options for law enforcement
purposes that would enable data to be shared with the EU. This
raises concerns about the UK's ability to maintain deep police
and security cooperation with the EU
post-Brexit. The Committee therefore urges the
Government to ensure that a transitional arrangement is agreed,
to avoid a cliff-edge for data transfers when the UK leaves the
EU.
Chairman of the Committee, Lord Jay said:
“The volume of data stored electronically and moving across
borders has grown hugely over the last 20 years. Between 2005 and
2012 alone, internet traffic across borders increased 18-fold.
The maintenance of unhindered data flows is therefore crucial,
both for business and for effective police cooperation.
“The Committee was concerned by the lack of detail on how the
Government plans to maintain unhindered data flows post-Brexit.
It was concerned, too, by the risk that EU and UK data protection
rules could diverge over time when the UK has left the EU. To
avoid this, the Committee urges the Government to secure a
continuing role for the Information Commissioner’s Office on the
European Data Protection Board”.
