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“An adequacy agreement between the UK and the EU is good news for British tech businesses, who can breathe a little more easily safe in the knowledge that data will continue to flow across The English Channel. But there is a risk that this decision may be a stay of execution.

There is a sunset clause in the agreement, which means that the pact will expire after four years and will be renewed ‘only if the UK continues to ensure an adequate level of data protection’.

Privacy standards are constantly evolving, which means organisations in the UK need to keep one eye on European regulations and another on Westminster’s own data policies to ensure the sunset clause does not need to be enacted. The digital pipeline from Europe must be kept operational at all costs.

The EU has less to lose in this negotiation than the UK, because if data stops flowing from Europe, it will be British businesses that stand to suffer the most. That’s why the tech sector needs to be sure to monitor UK data regulations and push politicians to make sure they are harmonised with European laws.

It’s also worth reminding companies of their obligations to customers. It’s imperative to secure data, particularly unstructured data, as well as cutting back on organisational overexposure to make sure employees are only given access to the information they need to do their jobs. Ultimately, it’s organisations and their customers that will suffer if rules are broken so every business needs to take responsibility for data security.”