21 Aug 2019

Online retailers could suffer from a no-deal Brexit

Thousands of online retailers who use Amazon to sell their products could find their businesses switched off in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Sole traders who use platforms such as Amazon and Google to sell online could find themselves blocked because the EU would not recognise UK data protection standards in the event of no-deal.

Although the UK has already said it would accept EU data compliance in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the EU has made no such pledge, leaving online retailers stranded.

Both Amazon and Google host huge amounts of data from giant centres based in Europe. It could take years for the EU to sign off a data compliance agreement with an independent UK.

“Data flow is so ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives that if it stops, we don’t know exactly what will happen,” says Claire Edwards, a partner at law firm Pinsent Masons.

The potential aftershocks of a no-deal Brexit on October 31 have been laid bare in confidential details of Operation Yellowhammer, the government’s no-deal contingency planning for a no deal departure, which were leaked to the newspaper.

Warnings include three months of chaos at ports, fuel and food shortages, nationwide unrest and a hard border on the island of Ireland.

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