Brexit and GDPR: what businesses should be doing to prepare for a ‘no deal’ scenario

The increasingly real prospect of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit has serious implications for businesses across the UK. One very real concern is what impact a ‘no deal’ scenario would mean in terms of the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Having expended serious time and effort on becoming GDPR compliant, UK companies are justifiably concerned about what they’ll need to do in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

After all, GDPR isn’t a law in and of itself. If it were, the UK could simply leave the EU and cease to be subject to it. Instead, it’s a European directive that requires member states to draft laws ensuring that their citizens abide by the regulations. 

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The UK has already done that, having signed the Data Protection Act into law in 2018. Should the country leave the EU without a deal, however, the picture changes dramatically. 

No-deal scenario

In such a scenario, the UK would become a “third party” country, mean