The Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) for global data transfers from data controllers in the European Union to data processors within and outside the 27-member group will be the subject of a webinar on 4 May presented by the ICC Task Force on Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data.

The webinar, aimed at company privacy officers and those who counsel them, will offer an interactive learning experience allowing participants to ask questions and get answers in real time.  

It will feature Commission Chair Christopher Kuner, who led the negotiations with the European Commission on the changes, andBojana Bellamy, Head of Global Data Privacy Compliance at Accenture. The two internationally recognized experts will explain the changes to the new EU standard contractual clauses, which come into effect on 15 May.

The EU Commission update represents the latest attempt to design data protection measures that safeguard personal data while meeting the day-to-day realities of business based on practical business experience and is aimed at ensuring closer cooperation between business and government authorities.

“In some ways, the new clauses represent a substantial improvement versus the original set of clauses for transfers to data processors approved by the Commission in 2001,” Mr Kuner wrote in a recent article in Privacy & Security Law Report. “At the same time, the Commission’s failure to make more extensive changes to the original setof clauses represents a missed opportunity to radically rethink the purpose and function of standard contractual clauses as a method to provide legal protection for international data transfers.”

As the lead negotiator with the European Commission on behalf of ICC and its partner business associations, Mr Kuner is uniquely placed to explain the background to the changes in the new clauses. Accenture’s Bojana Bellamy will speak about how these changes affect a company's day-to-day business operations.

Participants will have ample opportunity to pose questions to the experts in advance and during the session.

While other mechanisms that provide a legal basis for complying with the EU restrictions for transferring personal data outside the EU exist and are increasingly popular, the use of SCCs remains indispensable. In many cases they are the only readily available data transfer solution that can be used and implemented on short notice.

The approval of these model clauses is the latest example of tools ICC has promoted with the European Commission to improve international data transfers for global business. Previous efforts culminated in the EU adopting ICC’s recommended changes to the standard clauses for international transfers from data controllers to other data controllers and its binding corporate rules checklist to streamline the process for companies applying to different data protection authorities around the EU.

To register for the webinar, please click here