Data Access Agreement – joint statement by the United States and the United Kingdom
Published 21 July 2022
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The United States and United Kingdom intend to bring into force the agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Access to Electronic Data for the Purpose of Countering Serious Crime (“Data Access Agreement”), which was signed in 2019, on 3 October 2022. The entry into force of the Data Access Agreement will start a new era of co-operation between the United States and the United Kingdom, bringing forward a renewed commitment to tackling the threat of serious crime.
The Data Access Agreement will be the first agreement of its kind, allowing each country’s investigators to gain better access to vital data to combat serious crime in a way that is consistent with our shared values and mission of protecting our citizens and safeguarding our national security.
The Data Access Agreement will allow information and evidence that is held by service providers within each of our nations and relates to the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of serious crime to be accessed more quickly than ever before. This will help, for example, our law enforcement agencies gain more effective access to the evidence they need to bring offenders to justice, including terrorists and child abuse offenders, thereby preventing further victimization.
Our agreement will maintain the strong oversight and protections that our citizens enjoy and does not compromise or erode the human rights and freedoms that our nations cherish and share. It protects our citizens by improving both nations’ ability to fight serious crime while maintaining the democratic and civil liberties standards that we stand for and promote around the world.
This agreement is the latest demonstration of the strength of the bond between the United States and the United Kingdom, and our commitment to robust co-operation in the future.