In June 2021, the EU issued two adequacy decisions for the UK - one under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and another under the Law Enforcement Directive (“LED”):
These Decisions provide the UK with ‘adequacy status’, meaning data transfers from the EU to the UK can generally continue without additional safeguards because the UK's data protection laws are considered equivalent to EU standards.
However, the Decisions do not cover data transfers for UK immigration control or data that would fall under the immigration exemption in the UK's Data Protection Act 2018.
The EU has now extended the Decisions by six months to provide time for the UK to finalise its data protection reforms, and for the European Commission to assess whether the UK continues to provide an adequate level of protection.
This means the Decisions, which were set to expire on 27 June 2025, will now remain valid until 27 December 2025.
Essentially, businesses operating in EU countries will get six extra months to continue transferring personal data to the UK.
Without these extensions, organisations wishing to transfer personal data from the EU to the UK would face much greater compliance costs and would need to adopt alternative data transfer mechanisms, potentially disrupting the free flow of data between the EU and the UK.
For data transfers to non-adequate countries/territories/sectors, businesses will need to use mechanisms such as the UK-specific International Data Transfer Agreement or Binding Corporate Rules.
Currently, the European Commission only deems certain countries as having ‘adequacy status’, so it is imperative to regularly check the Information Commissioner's Office’s guidance to ensure you have the most up-to-date information.
If you would like further guidance on adequacy status, alternative data transfer mechanisms or how the Decisions may affect you/your business, please feel free to contact Hannah Steggles on [javascript protected email address] or on 0116 247 3520.
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