EU and UK Regulation of Transborder Data Flows

As markets become more global, data protection awareness and compliance in transborder data flows is becoming increasingly important. There are important issues for companies wishing to send personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). This paper considers the restriction on transfer of personal data outside the EEA under Directive 95/46/EC1 (the Directive) and in particular the eighth principle under the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act),which implements the Directive in the UK, and the ways in which compliance with it’s requirements may be achieved.

As markets become more global, data protection awareness and compliance in transborder data flows is becoming increasingly important. There are important issues for companies wishing to send personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). This paper considers the restriction on transfer of personal data outside the EEA under Directive 95/46/EC1 (the Directive) and in particular the eighth principle under the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act),which implements the Directive in the UK, and the ways in which compliance with it’s requirements may be achieved.