When the European Commission published its final guidance on new standard contractual clauses, it pinpointed several dates for compliance. The guidance took effect on June 27, 2021, and the final day for updating all new contracts was September 27, 2021. In that time, businesses across the European Union have come into compliance with the new SCCs, which in turn have brought them into compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

The clauses are contractual addendums that apply to both current and future agreements which pertain to how businesses manage, interact with and transfer user personal information. Europe’s status as a leader in data privacy means these clauses and the overall data privacy efforts are widely seen as best practices in the global race to protect data transfers.