Transition and Data Protection…
GDPR was a significant headache for businesses when it launched in the UK in 2018. The end of the Brexit transition period on the 31st December brings some major considerations, whether you trade with the EU or not.
At the time of writing this post, negotiations are ongoing between the UK and the EU, but the ICO has published a range of pages to give guidance that businesses should follow. You can also use their Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) Interactive Guidance Tool to check what you need to do if you have data coming to you from the EU, or a supplier in the EU.
The key consideration for most businesses is likely to be around the moving of Data between the UK and the EU. Whilst trading with the EU will definitely require you to review your processes, if you use software suppliers that store their data in the EU, you are likely to be affected!
Many suppliers have been updating their terms of business recently, including Google, Stripe and others, but businesses should review all suppliers and decide what action needs to be taken to ensure they are complying with the regulations as necessary.
UPDATE January 2021
The ICO has issued an update following the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement. You can find the details here.