The prospect of a no-deal Brexit is creating new risks for companies that are required to comply with European data-protection rules
Siemens is among the companies preparing legal contracts in case of a no-deal Brexit scenario. Photo: kamil zihnioglu/epa-efe/rex/Shutterstock 0 Comments By Nina Trentmann March 12, 2019 12:01 a.m. ET
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, threatens noncompliant companies with fines of up to 4% of global annual revenue, or €20 million , whichever is higher. About 200,000 GDPR cases have led to about €55.9 million in fines, according to the European Data Protection Board. The U.K. is currently covered by GDPR and has pledged to stick to the existing data protections. But the EU won’t immediately deem the country’s regulation as equivalent, creating a gap that could last a year or two until the EU grants the U.K. equivalent status, said Jane Shvets, a partner at law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
Preparing legal contracts for a no-deal Brexit scenario will be a “depressing exercise that involves a lot of companies putting in place a lot of paperwork,” said Nigel Parker, a partner at Allen & Overy LLP. The contract changes don’t improve citizens’ data protection, but merely fulfill a regulatory purpose, the lawyer said.As the possibility of a no-deal Brexit has increased, companies have paid more attention to its implications for GDPR, he said.
Munich-based Siemens AG is among the companies preparing to alter its contracts. It has binding corporate rules governing internal data transfers that won’t be affected by Brexit, but the company will agree to new standard clauses for personal data transfers involving third-party suppliers before March 29, a company spokesman said.
In the Safe Harbor case, however, a replacement—the EU-US Privacy Shield—was agreed to several months after the court decision, limiting the time gap.
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