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Law / Jamaica

Data Protection Act, 2020, transfer of personal data outside Jamaica

Data Protection Act, 2020 (Act 7 of 2020), s. 31 (the eighth standard)

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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.

In force.

A cross border transfer rule binding public and private bodies.

As of 19 September 2026.

What it requires

  • Do not transfer personal data to a State or territory outside of Jamaica unless that State or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects.
  • Assess adequacy on the nature of the personal data, the State or territory of origin and of final destination, the purposes and period of the intended processing, the law and international obligations of the receiving State or territory, any enforceable codes of conduct there, and the security measures applied to the data.
  • Rely on a case in section 31(4), such as the data subject's consent or the necessity of the transfer for a contract with the data subject, only where that case actually applies, or transfer on terms of a kind the Information Commissioner has approved.

What it reaches

Obligation class

Transfer

What this law does

Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.

The eighth standard is that personal data shall not be transferred to a State or territory outside of Jamaica unless that State or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

Adequacy is assessed in all the circumstances of the case, having regard in particular to the nature of the personal data, the State or territory of origin of the information and of its final destination, the purposes and the period of the intended processing, the law in force and the international obligations of the State or territory in question, any relevant enforceable codes of conduct, and the security measures taken in respect of the personal data there.

The standard does not apply where the data subject consents to the transfer, where the transfer is necessary for a contract with the data subject or for a contract made at the data subject's request or in their interests, for reasons of substantial public interest, for legal proceedings, legal advice or the establishment or defence of legal rights, to protect the data subject's vital interests, where the data is part of a public register open to inspection, or where the transfer is made on terms of a kind approved by the Commissioner, and the Minister may prescribe circumstances in which those cases do not hold.

The Act is in force: it reached its appointed day under the Appointed Day Notice gazetted in 2023, the mechanism its own commencement clause leaves to a notice published in the Gazette, and no notice stating the day itself has been located.

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Read the law

Text of the Data Protection Act, 2020 as published by the Houses of Parliament of Jamaica

Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.

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