FEATURE26 April 2022

Data flows: Data post-Brexit

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Liam Kay-McClean

Data analytics Europe Features Impact UK

A Brexit agreement for data transfers between the UK and the EU was agreed last year – how might it affect the data analytics industry? By Liam Kay.

The EU flag made up of binary code

Brexit is a word that evokes many feelings. The fraught decoupling of the UK and the European Union (EU) between the 2016 referendum and the Brexit agreement at the end of 2020 had a profound impact on the relationship between the two entities, with the withdrawal treaty coming into effect last year.

Data analytics and the transfer of information was relatively absent from the main arguments between the UK and EU during Brexit. An adequacy agreement, ensuring the ability to transfer data between the UK and EU without barriers, was ratified in 2021, but included a four-year ‘sunset clause’ allowing the deal to expire if there were significant changes to data protection laws and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the UK in the meantime. The deal was crucial for the UK economy – Chris Combemale, chief executive of the Data and Marketing Association (DMA), claims that, without it, the UK economy could have lost up to £85bn.

Almost a year ...