Daniel Zeichner, Member of Parliament for Cambridge warns the government that they must not take their eye off the ball when it comes to securing the free flow of personal data as part of the Brexit negotiations.

The government’s future partnership paper, published today, outlined their plans for the Data Protection Bill, specifically on the exchange and protection of personal data. The plan aims to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), allowing the UK to continue working with EU countries online.

However, the Government must also secure a Mutual Adequacy agreement with the EU, which would allow mutual recognition of data protection rules with the EU, stopping any disruption to business.

Daniel, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics, says: “I’m relieved that the Government have made some headway with this, but securing an adequacy agreement will not be easy. The fastest ever adequacy decision made by the EU took 18 months, so this needs to happen quickly for both the Government and businesses to have the necessary time needed for a post-Brexit adaptation. “

“Although this paper suggests a decent approach by the government, the real graft of difficult and sensitive negotiations around surveillance powers starts now. It’ll take real time and commitment on both sides, and none of the bullish tactics that we have seen elsewhere in other government department Brexit negotiations. They need to recognise that they can’t have their cake and eat it too.”

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