What Are the Advantages of Using SCCs?
ANSWER
Thanks to their standardized structure and prior approval, SCCs are a ready-to-use tool that is relatively easy to implement. This is particularly important for SMEs and micro-enterprises, which may not have the resources required to negotiate bespoke agreements with each of their business partners.
One of the key advantages of SCCs compared with other compliance mechanisms is that they do not require prior approval from a national supervisory authority before they can be used. In addition, SCCs are generally less costly to implement than alternative transfer mechanisms, which often involve higher implementation costs (for example, certification schemes).
Feedback received from stakeholders indicates that SCCs for data transfers are by far the most widely used data transfer mechanism among European businesses. For example, according to the 2019 IAPP-EY Annual Privacy Governance Report:
"The most popular of these transfer tools by a significant margin are Standard Contractual Clauses, with 88% of respondents identifying SCCs as their primary method for cross-border data transfers [...]."
The above answer comes from an official document of the European Commission.
You can review it at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/questions_answers_on_sccs_en.pdf
We have also published a translation of the document on our blog: "Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) – Questions and Answers".
