Michael Drury and Julian Hayes to deliver Lexology Webinar on UK-US Bilateral Data Sharing Agreement

Michael Drury and Julian Hayes to deliver Lexology Webinar on UK-US Bilateral Data Sharing Agreement

BCL partners Michael Drury and Julian Hayes will be delivering a webinar in partnership with Lexology, 20th October, 15:00 – 15:55 UTC, titled ‘UK-US Bilateral Data Sharing Agreement: what companies need to know’.

Register for this webinar here through the Lexology website.

Here’s a brief description of the webinar’s topic:

Although concluded as long ago as October 2019 between UK Home Secretary Priti Patel and US Attorney General William Barr, the end of October 2020 should bring the commencement of the US-UK Bilateral Data Sharing Agreement. Heralded as a breakthrough to ensure the timely supply of electronic data essential for law enforcement investigations, its purpose is to remove inordinate delay that following the requirements of mutual legal assistance made necessary.

This has required changes to US law through the CLOUD Act and UK law through the Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act 2019. But how will the agreement work and what will this mean for the holders and processors of data from whom data will be demanded?

Michael Drury’s expertise in data collection and surveillance matters by state entities is unparalleled in the United Kingdom. As a former director of legal affairs at GCHQ, the largest of the UK’s security and intelligence agencies, for 14 years; founder member of the Serious Fraud Office; and for the last 10 years a partner in BCL providing advice on national security and criminal investigations to both corporate and individual clients, his breadth of experience both in terms of developing legislation (particularly the Regulatory Investigatory Powers Act as the forerunner to the current Investigatory Powers Act 2016) and practical casework gives him unique insights into how the law has developed and the practical consequences that follow. He has already provided advice on the US-UK Bilateral Data Sharing Agreement due to commence this autumn and brings his breadth of knowledge to bear on what is a new departure in a field that is inherently controversial.

Julian Hayes advises companies and individuals in the rapidly developing field of data protection, especially in the context of data breaches and law enforcement investigations, where necessary litigating to ensure that the actions of state authorities are properly constrained. A partner at BCL for three years, he has vast experience of all types of criminal inquiries, including the unlawful obtaining of data and computer misuse offences. He is well-known and highly regarded commentator on cybersecurity and privacy issues. He advises telecommunications operators on their obligations under UK investigatory powers legislation and provides practical guidance on how to handle demands placed upon them, including in establishing systems that work to ensure legal compliance and protection for the operator.