HOW DOES IT AFFECT
BREXIT,
YOUR BUSINESS LEGALLY? Business lawyers at Gloucestershire’s Willans LLP have put together a quick guide which makes essential reading for businesses, particularly for those who process personal data in the EU.
The pandemic has understandably diverted attention and resources for many businesses, at a time when Brexit preparations may otherwise have been top of the agenda. Nonetheless, the transition period is now over, and a clearer picture of the future relationship between the UK and EU has emerged. Read on to find out what your business needs to do now, what can wait and what measures should already be in place…
What data-related matters may affect my organisation? Do I need to act now? As the UK is now outside of the EU, it is regarded as a ‘third country’, and as a result many UK companies will need to have an ‘EU representative’ in place to act as a direct contact for the individuals whose data they are processing, and also data protection supervisory authorities in the EEA. You will need an EU representative if your business does not have offices or branches in the European Economic Area (EEA) and you are offering goods or services to individuals in the EEA, or monitoring their behaviour through e.g. targeted advertising or data ‘profiling’, and are holding or processing their data for those purposes. This has become a requirement for UK businesses as of 1 January 2021, and for businesses in the rest of the world it has been a requirement since 2018. The EU representative serves as a contact point between your organisation, the supervisory authorities in the EU
