If you process personal data, that processing is currently subject to the Data Protection Act 1998. As of next May, the EU General Data Protection Regulation – the GDPR – will take over. Continuing the changes, the new Data Protection Bill introduced recently will bring much of the GDPR, with a few minor differences, into UK law post-Brexit.
Changes in the Law
Much media attention has been devoted recently to the GDPR. Some of this has provoked questions about the future legal position on data transfer not only within the UK but also to other countries outside the EU or EEA. The good news is that, in our view, what you will need to do in the future will not really change in practical terms.
To Where are You Transferring Personal Data?
You might need to transfer personal data within or outside the UK, to a location within the EU or EEA, or to a non-EU/EEA country (a “third country”). In addition to general requirements for processing personal data, particular requirements apply to transfer of data within the UK or abroad as outlined below.
Transferring Personal Data Within the UK or EEA
Where a UK data controller has a data processor within the UK or the EEA processing personal data for it, currently the law requires a written contract obliging the data processor to act on instructions from the data controller and to comply with obligations equivalent to those in the Data Protection Act’s Seventh Data Protection Principle. The GDPR also requires the contract to detail the processing and the data processor’s obligations. Our template document Data Processing Agreement – Personal Data Security (UK/EEA) meets the current requirements for such a contract.
There are no officially recognised standard clauses for such a contract. There may be in future, but there are none on the horizon, so you may continue to use our template. If the position changes, we will, in addition to making any necessary changes to our template, advise you accordingly.
Transferring Personal Data Outside the EEA
The Act’s Eighth Data Protection Principle and the EU Directive 95/46/EC (often referred to as the “Data Protection Directive”) only allow data controllers to transfer personal data outside the EU if the destination country has an adequate level of protection for the rights of the data subjects concerned. A number of alternative methods of ensuring such protection exist, as follows, but we believe that the “model terms” option (see below) is the best and easiest solution. This is because in practice another method may not be available or it may be relatively difficult to use it. The alternatives are as follows:
1) Recognised Destination
The EU Commission website lists those countries which it recognises as satisfying the test of “adequate level of protection”. The current Act and the GDPR provide for such recognition as a means of satisfying the test for an adequate level of protection. Transfer of data from the UK to the USA is complicated. The USA is not listed as “recognised” but a transfer will be permitted if the USA recipient (“data importer”) has self-certified compliance with the Privacy Shield framework.
2) Adequate Level of Protection
If the destination country is not “recognised”, then the requirements of the Act’s Eighth Data Protection Principle may be met if the data controller concludes that there is an adequate level of protection for the person who is the subject of the data, having regard in particular to the “adequacy criteria” set out in the Act.
It may not always be easy to properly apply these adequacy criteria. Further, the self-assessment basis of ensuring an adequate level of protection will be different and reduced under the GDPR. All in all, we think it will be very difficult for you to make proper use of this method.
3) An Exemption
Schedule 4 of the current Act provides several exemptions from the application of the Eighth Data Protection Principle. Similar exemptions will apply under the GDPR. If one of them applies, you would not need to consider whether there is an “adequate level of protection” or to take any other special steps in relation to the transfer.
4) Agreement on “Model Terms”
In view of the uncertainties and difficulties of ensuring an “adequate level of protection”, it will often be easier and preferable to make use of the following means instead.
The relevant EU Directive provides that an adequate level of protection will be achieved if a data controller and data processor sign an agreement governing transfer of data on model terms issued by the EU Commission for such purposes. The Commission issued the model terms in 2010. The current Act gives effect to this means of compliance and the Information Commissioner authorised the EU Commission model terms. This creates a “safe harbour” for UK data controllers transferring personal data outside the EU or EEA. Our template document Data Processing Export Agreement – Personal Data Security (Non-EU) contains the model terms and it may be used where transferring personal data outside the EU or EEA.
Although the GDPR supersedes the EU Directive, it does not alter the model terms regime so our template can be used after the GDPR and, subsequently, the new Act come into effect. It appears unlikely that the model terms will be amended in the foreseeable future. If they are, we will amend our template to take account of those changes.
Your Experience
Do you transfer personal data to another organisation to process it in the UK/EEA or outside the EU or EEA? If so, we would like to hear about how you ensured compliance with the current Act and the Directive, and how you plan to ensure compliance with the GDPR and the new Act. If you transferred data outside the EU or EEA, then, in order to do so, have you made use of the “model terms”? Have you relied on some other option instead? Are you confident that you are complying with all legal requirements relating to data transfer?