Privacy and data protection in the UK and in the EU: a long history of divergence even during the UK’S EU membership. Brexit should not bring a divorce with the EU privacy regulatory regime so as to protect trade and human rights in the UK

The article examines data protection in the UK and in the EU and it argues that the UK should remain compliant with the EU data protection regulatory regime after Brexit. This is imperative for two reasons; to consolidate trade with the EU which evolves in the challenging environment of Brexit but also to maintain a high level of human rights’ protection. To that end, the article examines the legislative, political and cultural background of privacy in the EU and in the UK. It will then focus on data protection which is merely an aspect of the umbrella right of privacy. The English legal traditions on privacy diverged from the respective European ones. They came to somehow converge only with the passing of the Human Rights Act in 1998 and the EU Data Protection Directive of 1995. The UK was uneasy with the regulation of privacy and data protection even throughout its EU membership. Brexit which entails a rupture with the EU legal order may therefore bring a lesser protection of privacy and personal data in the post-Brexit English legal order especially since the UK is now contemplating withdrawal from the entire European institutional network of human rights protection. That will impact upon the status of the right to data protection too which is an aspect of the right to privacy and it is instrumental for maintaining trade with the EU. This is because article 45 GDPR requires an adequate level of protection of the personal data of EU citizens in order to allow their transfer to a third country; this is effectively a pre-requisite to trade. If the post-Brexit UK reverts to lesser standards of protection that will entail both an erosion of human rights’ protection in the country as well as significant economic damage.