Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)
Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are model contract terms approved by the European Commission that companies use to put transfers of personal data to countries outside the EU or the EEA, where no adequacy decision exists, on a sound legal footing. The clauses currently in use are those set out in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914.
In practice
Larger cloud providers often build Standard Contractual Clauses into their data processing agreements automatically, and a look at the provider's contract documents settles the question. That is not always the end of it: depending on the destination country, you may also need to assess whether supplementary technical or organisational measures are required, such as encryption or pseudonymisation. Where there is doubt, it is worth consulting legal advisers who specialise in data protection.