Industry fears mount over prospect of no-deal Brexit

The DMA has expressed its concerns over the Government’s decision to delay the Brexit deal vote in Parliament, insisting that any disruption to the free flow of data between the EU and Britain would be both damaging and costly.
Fears that the UK could leave the EU without a deal have increased following the turmoil within the Conservative Party.
Back in October, the industry body warned that a no-deal Brexit was “antithetical to the interests of the data and marketing industry as a whole” while the CBI has also called for action to prevent the UK’s £240bn data economy falling off a cliff edge.
DMA Group chief executive Chris Combemale said: “The challenges of a no-deal Brexit would be very complicated for British businesses, as the disruption to the free flow of data between the UK and EU would be very damaging and costly.
“Although larger organisations may have the resources to implement standard contract clauses to be able to continue data transfers in a no-deal Brexit scenario, SMEs will be seriously disadvantaged by the administrative burden.”
One industry source said: “No deal takes us into the unknown. We have already shouldered the huge costs of GDPR but now we face uncertainty over whether we will be able to transfer data between the EU and the UK after March 29. With a no-deal, an adequacy agreement could be virtually impossible. We need the Government to get its act together.”
Anna Flanagan, an associate solicitor in the information law team at Pinsent Masons, recently warned that if the flow of personal data in and out of the EU is interrupted for even a short period, “the impact on organisations will be seismic”.

TOPICS:Brexit data transfers DMA personal data