Put the right paperwork around overseas data transfers

The first step is understanding the transfer pathway rather than jumping straight to template wording. We usually need to identify who is sending the information, who receives it overseas, what categories of personal information are involved, why the transfer happens, and whether any subcontractors or cloud providers sit in the chain. From there, we draft the addendum around the actual arrangement, including the parties' responsibilities and any practical safeguards or process points that should be reflected in the document before it is signed.

We generally need a practical summary of the arrangement, including the parties involved, the services being provided, where the overseas recipient is located, what personal information is transferred, and whether the recipient stores, accesses, analyses or further discloses that information. It also helps to provide any existing service agreement, privacy terms, vendor paperwork, or internal process notes that explain how the transfer works in real life. A useful version should be based on your real data practices, not just a generic list of privacy clauses, not just on the label attached to the relationship.

A cross-border transfer often relies on information or cooperation from the overseas recipient, platform provider, or vendor group. For example, the drafting may depend on what security commitments they are willing to give, whether they use subprocessors, how deletion works at the end of the arrangement, and whether they already insist on their own standard terms. If the other side is slow to provide documents or unwilling to move on key clauses, that can affect timing and the final structure. Third-party decisions sit outside Sprintlaw's control.

Timing usually depends on how clearly the data flow is documented at the outset and whether there is an existing master agreement to work from. If the transfer arrangement is straightforward and the parties already understand the operational setup, the drafting can move more quickly. It may take longer where there are multiple recipients, layered subcontracting, or uncertainty about what information is being transferred and for what purpose. Delays can also arise if the overseas counterparty needs to review the wording internally before the addendum can be settled.

Only if the document still matches what happens in practice. The legal position depends on the way the business handles information in reality, so if your team later changes where data is stored, adds new overseas providers, expands the categories of information transferred, or starts using the data for new purposes, the addendum may need to be revisited. That is why we ask detailed questions about the actual workflow at the outset. A well-drafted addendum is helpful, but it should be kept aligned with operational changes over time.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Cross Border Data Transfer Addendum service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.