Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

In an article originally published on Practical Law, and reproduced with the permission of the publishers, Hunton Andrews Kurth London partner Bridget Treacy discusses the European Commission’s long-awaited, and now finalized, standard contractual clauses (“SCCs”) for international transfers of personal data made under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).

SCCs are the most frequently used mechanism for transferring personal data from the EU (practically speaking, the EEA) and from the UK to third countries. They have become the default alternative for UK or EU transfers to the U.S., following the Court of Justice of the European Union’s decision in July 2020 in the Schrems II case to uphold SCCs (subject to case-by-case assessment of the transfer) and to strike down the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.

In the article, Treacy highlights the key features of the new SCCs, related transition and implementation, considerations for personal data transfers from the UK, and the European Data Protection Board’s final Recommendations 01/2020 on supplementary measures.