Brexit

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines the impact of Brexit on data protection law. The Withdrawal Agreement, concluded in October of 2019 on the legal basis of Article 50 TEU, established the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU, including loss of EU citizenship for UK citizens and any rights related to EU membership. It also envisaged the granting of adequacy decisions under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU Law Enforcement Directive (LED) subject to the UK being found to provide a level of data protection ‘essentially equivalent’ to EU law. The chapter then looks at the EU—UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and the Security of Information Agreement. It also looks at the EU—UK Adequacy Decisions; the EU—UK LED Adequacy Decision; the UK Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA); the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018; the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020; and the EU (Future Relationship) Act 2020. Finally, the chapter considers the major divergences of the relationship of the UK legal order with the EU and European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) legal systems, and the UK’s alignment with both concerning the protection of personal data.