The UK Government has made some interesting pronouncements in recent weeks in relation to data protection, with a clear goal of making UK data protection laws less burdensome for organisations, facilitating the digital economy and promoting international trade. One of the main areas of focus is to push forward with adequacy decisions to enable transfers of personal data between the UK and third countries without the need for any additional steps to be taken by organisations who are exporting personal data.

Why does adequacy matter?

Organisations need to transfer personal data outside the UK for many reasons. Multinational corporations often transfer data between group companies to enable global services to be delivered. Organisations rely on overseas suppliers to provide critical IT infrastructure and support services. Data is often backed up in overseas jurisdictions or sub-contractors are located overseas.