June 3, 2022
  • Rakuten Group, Inc.

Rakuten Granted Approval for Binding Corporate Rules by United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office

Tokyo, June 3, 2022 – Rakuten Group, Inc. today announced that approval was granted by the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) on May 19, 2022 for the U.K. Binding Corporate Rules (“U.K. BCR”) submitted by Rakuten Group.

Under U.K. data protection laws, the transfer of personal data outside of the U.K. is illegal in principle, except in cases in which the transfer is to a country recognized as having an adequate level of protection with respect to personal data, or an appropriate alternative protection measure is in place. This approval signifies that Rakuten’s U.K. BCR has been deemed to have an adequate level of protection, according to the U.K. Data Protection Authority. It is now possible, within the Rakuten Group, to transfer personal data across borders outside the United Kingdom, based on this U.K. BCR.

Rakuten obtained Binding Corporate Rules approval for the European Union from the Commission nationale pour la protection des données (CNPD)*1 in December 2016. Rakuten’s BCR was found to have adequate protection measures in the U.K. and seven EU countries*2. However, as the U.K. has withdrawn from the EU, the previous BCR is no longer sufficient for cross-border transfers of personal data outside the U.K. Therefore, it became essential to also obtain approval for Rakuten’s U.K. BCR. Furthermore, in response to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a privacy law uniformly enforced across the EU and globally recognized as the leading regulation in privacy and data protection, Rakuten has established BCR as fundamental throughout the Group since May 2018.

Going forward, Rakuten will continue to both comply with all applicable regulations and provide innovative services, further strengthening its commitment to privacy and data protection while expanding our businesses globally.

*1 Because the application for BCR was filed from Rakuten’s Luxembourg office, approval was granted by the CNPD.
*2 Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain

*Please note that the information contained in press releases is current as of the date of release.

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