Google Seeking to Place Britain Users’ Accounts Under U.S Jurisdiction

On Wednesday Alphabet’s Inc. (GOOGL) Google said that it’s looking for ways into which it can shift its British users’ accounts under the control of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPG) and instead subject them under the jurisdiction of the United States.

The search giant claims this move has been prompted by Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Google claims following BREXIT, personal data belonging to millions of British users will be left with less protection and it will be hard for the British law enforcement to access it. However, Google says Britain users must first accept the new terms and conditions placing them under the jurisdiction of the U.S.

“Nothing about our services or our approach to privacy will change, including how we collect or process data, and how we respond to law enforcement demands for users’ information. The protections of the UK GDPR will still apply to these users,” said Google’s spokesperson.

Google has its European headquarters in Ireland, in Europe Google is subjected to the European Union General Data Protection Regulation which is claimed of having the most aggressive data protection laws in the world.

It’s still not clear if after BREXIT Britain will adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation or it will formulate other laws concerning how users’ personal data should be handled.

As it is currently if Britain resolves that its Google users’ data to remain in Ireland then it will be more difficult for British authorities to access it during investigations.

However, if Britain allows their Google user to be under U.S jurisdiction, then it will be easy for British authorities to access the users’ data from U.S companies due to the Cloud Act in the United States.