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What Is a UK Representative and Why Do You Need One?

Natacha has held a number of senior positions in the Foreign Office including Deputy Ambassador to China and Director of Economic diplomacy and Emerging Powers. She also has worked on global trade policy and international issues.

Businesses that operate outside of the UK must adhere to UK privacy laws. They must appoint an official in the UK who will be their point of contact for people who are data subjects and ICO.

What is what is a UK Representative?

The UK Representative is become a representative person, business or organisation who has been appointed by a data processor or controller to act in their behalf on all matters relating to GDPR compliance. They will be the primary contact for any queries from data subjects exercising their rights, or for requests from supervisory authorities. They may be subject to national requirements that have been enacted as a result of the GDPR's extraterritorial reach (see the UK case Rondon v LexisNexis Risk Solutions).

The appointment of a Representative is required under Article 27 of the EU GDPR, and the UK equivalent, Section 3(2) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This requirement is applicable to all organizations that do not have a permanent establishment in the United Kingdom but offer goods or services or control the conduct of people who are located in the United Kingdom or handle personal data. The representative must authentic proof of their identity, and that they are able to represent the controller or processor of data in relation to UK GDPR obligations.

In addition to serving as a portal for individuals to exercise their rights under GDPR, the Representative must be capable of communicating with authorities in the event of an incident. The representative must inform the supervisory authority who appointed them, regardless of whether or not the breach affects individuals in multiple jurisdictions.

It is recommended that your Representative has experience working with both European and UK-based data protection authorities. It is also desirable that they have a local language proficiency because they are likely to receive calls from both individuals and data protection authorities in the countries where they work.

Although the EDPB states that the Representative should be held liable in the event of non-compliance, the UK court case of Rondon v LexisNexis UK Ltd (2019) EWHC 1427 has established that a Representative cannot be sued by an individual for the data controller's alleged failure to comply with the UK GDPR. The court ruled that the Representative had no direct connection with the processing of data by the entity being represented.

Who is required to appoint the UK Representative?

In order to comply with the EU GDPR, businesses that are not part of the EU that market their products or services for European citizens, but do NOT have a branch, office or establishment within the EU must appoint an EU Representative. This is in addition to requirements of the national data protection laws. The function of a representative is to act as the local point of contact for individuals and supervisory authorities regarding GDPR compliance issues.

The UK has a similar requirement to the EU that is described in Article 27 of UK-GDPR. The threshold is the same as the EU requirement: any organisation providing goods or services within the UK, or monitoring the behavior of individuals who are data subjects, must designate an UK representative.

Under the UK-GDPR, a Representative must be formally authorized "to be, additionally or alternatively, addressed on behalf of the controller or processor, by data subjects and the British Information Commissioner's Officethe [British Information Commissioner's Office]". They cannot be personally held accountable for compliance with the GDPR. However they must cooperate with supervisory authorities in formal proceedings and also receive notifications from data subjects exercising their rights (access request or right to be forgotten, etc. ).

Representatives must be situated within the EU member state in which the individuals whose data are processed are. This isn't a straightforward decision that requires an in-depth legal and business analysis to determine the most suitable location for a company. This is why we provide a dedicated service to assist organizations in assessing their needs and deciding on the most appropriate option for them.

It is also recommended that representatives have previous experience in dealing with both supervisory authority and dealing with inquiries from data subjects. The ability to communicate in a local language could be crucial, since the job may require dealing with requests from supervisory authority or data subjects across Europe.

The identity of the representative must be disclosed to data subjects through the privacy policies and other information that is given prior to collecting data (see article 13 UK-GDPR). Contact details for the UK Representative should be made available on your website so that supervisory authorities can easily reach them.

When are you required to appoint an UK Representative?

If your business is based outside the UK, offers products or services to people within the UK, or monitors their behaviour, you may need to designate a UK sales representative jobs. The Applied GDPR regime in the UK applies to established companies outside the UK that conduct business in the UK and has the same extraterritorial reach as EU GDPR (with limited exceptions). Take our free self-assessment and see if you are subject to this obligation.

A Representative is appointed by the party appointing under the terms of a contract of service. The representative is appointed to act for that party in relation to specific obligations under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR, as applicable. In the UK, the main purpose of this would be to facilitate communication between the party that appointed and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) or any other affected data subjects in the UK. A Representative can either be an individual or a company with a UK base. The entity that is appointing the representative must inform individuals who are data subjects that their personal information will be processed by the Representative. The identity of that individual or company has to be readily available to supervisory authorities.

In accordance with Articles 13 & 14 of the UK GDPR, the appointing entity is also required to provide the contact details of its representative to the ICO and the data subjects in the UK. It is essential to make clear that the role of a Representative is distinct from and incompatible with the role of the role of a Data Protection Officer ("DPO") that requires a level of independence and autonomy that cannot be provided by a representative.

If you need to nominate a UK representative and you are required to do so, you must do it as soon as possible. This is because the requirement arises immediately after Brexit (if there is an 'hard' or 'no deal' Brexit) or after an implementation period (if there is a soft or 'with deal' Brexit). There is no grace period.

What are the requirements for the designation of a UK Representative?

According to UK laws on data protection the definition of a representative is a person or a company who is "designated" in writing by a company that does not have a physical presence in the UK however is subject to the law. The UK representative should be competent to represent the company in compliance with its legal obligations and their contact information must be readily accessible to those within the UK who have personal data being processed by a non-UK company.

The individual who is the UK Representative must be a senior member of the media or business organisation and have been recruited and subsequently made an employee outside of the UK by that business or media organisation. The visa applicant must plan to serve as the UK representative of the media or business organisation full-time and must not engage in any other business activities within the UK.

The applicant for visas also has to prove that they have the skills and experience needed to fulfill the role of a UK representative, uk representative which includes acting as a local contact point for the data subjects and UK authorities responsible for data protection. This is to ensure that the UK Representative has sufficient knowledge of and expertise in the UK data protection laws and can be able to respond to requests from individuals exercising their rights under the law, as well as any other inquiries or requests received from authorities dealing with data protection.

As the Brexit process progresses, it is likely the UK data protection laws will change in the future. At present it is expected that businesses from outside the UK that do business in the UK and process personal data of people in the UK will need to designate an official from the UK representative.

This is because article 27 of the UK's GDPR which was enacted as an UK national law, requires all entities that do not have any presence in the UK to nominate the position of a UK representative for data protection. If you are not sure whether you need to nominate the position of a UK data protection representative It is suggested consult an experienced legal adviser.