In a major departure from the current regime of Mutual Legal Assistance, the Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act received Royal Assent in February 2019. This Act, and the agreements that will be made pursuant thereto, will significantly increase the speed of exchange of data.
In October 2019 the UK and US signed a bilateral data access agreement that will enable UK law enforcement agencies to demand direct access to electronic data from US tech firms. Further agreements with other jurisdictions are foreseen, including the European Union.
The Treaty between the UK and US must be ratified by both Congress in the US and the Houses of Parliament.
The Overseas Production Order allows UK law enforcement agencies to obtain electronic data directly from service providers based outside the UK for the purposes of criminal investigations and prosecutions for serious crime. Of course, US authorities can also require the disclosure of data from UK communication service providers.
There will be no judicial oversight in the executing state. This is very different to the level of protection inherent in applications under the mutual legal assistance regime.