With the Shock news that Britain is to leave the EU, the tech industry in the UK will certainly be impacted, with 87% of senior members from the tech scene having opposed Brexit. Moreover, a recent study by a leading IT software vendor showed that almost 40% of IT security professionals believed leaving the EU would make the UK more vulnerable to cyber attacks. Recent discussions are also mentioning that Brexit will be likely to lead to a significant reduction on cooperation in criminal and policing matters between the UK and the EU, leaving the UK vulnerable to cyber criminals.

One thing is for sure, Brexit will still have to comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation coming up, just like many other countries around the world who do business with the EU and process EU citizens’ personal data. However, even if Britain fully complies with the EUGDPR, it will still have limited access to the full array of EU law enforcement intelligence.

Different options, different Data Protection implications

The options for the UK when it comes to trading in the EU will have different implications. For example, if they adopt the EFTA (The European Free Trade Association) model it will benefit from EU rules and therefore it must comply with regulations and restrictions. The Swiss model protects the right of their citizens of those of the EU citizens by having data protection laws that are very similar to the EU laws. If the UK were to choose the Swiss model it will have to face the same decision like Switzerland: adopting a law that mirrors the GDPR. The independent way of trading model will mean that it will have free rein to choose from data protection laws. If the UK were to decide to not upgrade its data protection laws to a GDPR level standard, they will be forced to adopt either EU strength data protection laws or an EC approved data transfer mechanism.

If you want to read more about the GDPR and its implications for organisations, click here to read our blog 5 Key Aspects Of The EU General Data Protection Regulation.

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