Does My Overseas Business Need to Comply With UK GDPR?

Many businesses operate globally yet target UK individuals, and as such, data privacy regulations such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) are essential. These laws are designed to help safeguard individuals’ personal data and privacy rights in the United Kingdom. For overseas businesses that process the personal data of UK residents, understanding and complying with UK GDPR rules is crucial for maintaining trust and legal compliance. This article explores the circumstances in which an overseas business needs to comply with the UK GDPR rules. 

What Is the UK GDPR?

The UK GDPR is the legal framework that governs how businesses handle personal data. It sets out strict rules that organisations must follow when processing individuals’ information.

Compliance with the UK GDPR is mandatory for any business processing personal data. 

This includes a wide range of information, such as the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of customers, suppliers, and employees, and potentially more sensitive data. Given the widespread collection of personal data across most industries, the UK GDPR’s requirements have a broad application.

Does the UK GDPR Apply Outside of the UK?

The UK GDPR has a key unique characteristic known as extraterritorial reach. This means it applies to organisations (controllers and processors) established outside the UK if their activities involve:

• offering goods or services directly to individuals in the UK; and 
• monitoring the behaviour of UK residents online (for instance, for online tracking for targeted advertising).

This broad scope ensures that businesses worldwide must comply with UK GDPR standards when handling the personal data of UK residents, regardless of their physical location.

Let us consider some practical scenarios:

• an Asia-based online retailer selling to UK customers collects personal data such as names, addresses, and payment information from individuals inside the UK; or
• a US social media platform that monitors UK users’ online behaviour for various purposes.

Both businesses must comply with the UK GDPR, even though they are not in the UK. 

What Should International Businesses Know About Compliance?

Complying with the UK GDPR can be challenging, particularly for businesses unfamiliar with its specific requirements and nuances compared to other data privacy regulations. This law demands constant attention and review to stay updated on regulatory developments and guidance. Companies are also under scrutiny regarding their compliance, which can come from regulators, customers, and stakeholders alike. 

GDPR Essentials Factsheet

This factsheet sets out how your business can become GDPR compliant.

Download Now

Compliance requires more than a one-size-fits-all approach. Achieving compliance with the UK GDPR requires a tailored strategy based on international businesses’ specific data processing activities. Understanding your data flows is the key first step, including which personal data you collect from UK data subjects and why you use it. 

Steps to consider include whether a business is a data controller (determining the purposes and means of processing) or a data processor (processing data on behalf of a controller). The nature and extent of data processing activities undertaken and the amount and sensitivity of the personal data processed (e.g. biometric data or health information) also determine obligations. 

Compliance Examples

Here are examples of specific actions that an international business may need to take to comply with UK GDPR, depending on its data processing activities:

• appointing a UK Representative (if the criteria for doing so applies); 
• issuing a UK GDPR privacy policy tailored explicitly to UK customers, outlining how their data is collected, used, and protected in compliance with UK GDPR;
• obtaining explicit and informed consent from individuals for specific data processing activities related to UK customers, where consent is the relevant legal ground the business relies upon for processing; 
• putting in place robust security measures to protect the personal data of UK customers from unauthorised access, accidental loss, or destruction; 
• setting up a data breach plan and notification procedure for prompt notification to the UK data protection regulator and affected individuals in case of a data breach where necessary; and
• conducting data protection impact assessments where necessary for high-risk data processing activities involving UK customers.

Further Compliance Examples

Here are some further examples of specific actions for consideration:

• establishing appropriate safeguards for international data transfers when transferring personal data of UK customers outside the UK. This can be particularly important for global businesses that transfer UK individual personal data to companies based outside of the UK; 
• maintaining comprehensive records of data processing activities related to UK customers, including purposes, categories of data subjects, and data recipients; 
• providing regular training to employees or other staff members who handle the personal data of UK customers on UK GDPR principles and best practices; or
• appointing or designating a Data Protection Officer, if necessary, or data protection lead to oversee compliance efforts related to UK GDPR requirements.

International businesses without knowledge of the UK GDPR rules are highly recommended to take specific legal advice to help ensure compliance.

Taking active steps to understand the rules, educating teams, and building policies and procedures is essential for ensuring compliance with the UK GDPR rules specific to handling customers’ data in the UK. 

Key Takeaways

Navigating the complexities of UK GDPR compliance is critical for overseas businesses engaging with or processing the personal data of UK residents. Companies can help ensure data protection and maintain regulatory compliance by understanding their data flows and legal obligations and implementing tailored compliance.

If you need legal advice on UK GDPR compliance, contact LegalVision’s experienced data, privacy and IT lawyers as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.