Data retention for EU citizens travelling between UK and EU during Brexit transition/implementation period

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As far as I understand, UK’s data retention policies are compatible with both UK and EU law. The Home Office’s policies and regulations regarding data retention have been devised keeping in mind the EU’s strict privacy laws. An example of that is PNR. Whilst PNR may be retained for up to five years it has to be depersonalized after 6 months. Being an EU member, the UK has to abide by this policy for all flights originating in Europe. Legally, the Home Office had the option of retaining PNR data for flights outside the EU for longer, but they decided that having two standards would not be cost effective and would not really help for the purposes it was being collected for.

The current data retention policy has been created after much deliberation. I don’t see why it needs to be changed after Brexit. After all, even if not bound by EU laws, the Home Office will still have to abide by the UK’s own data protection laws. Any attempt to change retention policies will face strong criticism and legal challenge from privacy advocates.

The question that should be asked is “what will happen to data in post Brexit-UK that was collected before Brexit?” Again, this would only be an issue if there is a policy change.

A definitive answer can only be written after an explicit intention by the Home Office to change policy. Everything else is speculation.

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