Experts on data protection to give evidence to Lords Committee

After leaving the EU, the UK will be treated as a third country on data protection issues and would have to prove its data protection laws are equivalent to those of the EU in order to share information. However, even if the UK's data protection regime is aligned with the EU's on departure, these rules could be amended or updated and the UK will have to choose whether to follow them.

This evidence session provides an opportunity for the Committee to explore how best to ensure there are unhindered flows of data between the UK and the EU after Brexit; how the UK can best protect its ability to influence EU and international data protection standards from outside the European Union; and how the UK can continue to share data with the US outside of the EU-US Privacy Shield.

At 10:30am the Committee will hear from:

• Professor Valsamis Mitsilegas, Queen Mary University of London
• Rosemary Jay, Senior Consultant Attorney, Hunton & Williams
• Stewart Room, Head of Legal Data Protection and Cyber-Security, PwC

The Committee is likely to ask:

• Assuming that the UK will be treated as a third country on data protection issues once the UK is no longer a member of the EU, what will be the default position as a matter of law for data flows between the UK and the EU if we haven't secured an adequacy decision or equivalent arrangement at the point when we leave the EU?
• How much room for manoeuvre will the UK Government have in practice on data protection policy post-Brexit if it wishes to maintain ‘unhindered' flows of data with both the EU and the US?
• How important is the EU-US Privacy Shield to the UK economy?
• How do UK-US bilateral agreements such as the UK-US mutual legal assistance treaty and UK-US extradition treaty sit alongside the EU-US Umbrella Agreement on data protection in law enforcement?

The evidence session will start at 10:45am on Wednesday 1 March in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords.