The new UK Data Protection Bill was announced during the Queen’s Speech of June 2017 and will update the current data protection laws. It was introduced to the House of Lords on 13 September 2017.According to the Data Protection Bill fact sheet published by the UK Department for Digital, Culture Media & Sport, the new data protection bill will:
Make data protection laws fit for the digital age in which an ever increasing amount of data is being processed.
Empower people to take control of their data.
Support UK businesses and organisations through the change.
Ensure that the UK is prepared for the future after it has left the EU.
Below the main changes introduced by the New data protection bill.
1. General data processing:
- Implementation of the GDPR (i.e. EU data protection regulation) standards
- Clarification on the definition used in the GDPR
- Appropriate restrictions to rights to access and delete data to allow certains processing currently undertaken to continue where there is a strong public policy justification, including for national secruity purposes
- Setting an age from which parental consent is not needed to process data online at age 13
2. Regulation and enforcement
- Additional powers to the ICO (UK data protection authority)
- Empowering the ICO to:
- serve administrative fines on data controllers and processors for the most serious data breaches, up to £17m (20m) or 4% of global turnover for the most serious breaches.
- bring criminal proceedings against offences where a data controller or processor alters records with intent to prevent disclosure following a subject access request
3. Law enforcement processing
- Provision of a bespoke regime for hte processing of personal data by the police, prosecutor and other criminal justice agencies for law enforcement purposes
- Enabling the unhindered flow of data internationally whilst providing safeguards to protect personal data
4.As to National security processing
- Ensuring that the laws governing the processing of personal data by the intelligence services remain up-to-date and in-line with modernised international standards, including appropriate safeguards with which the intelligence community can continue to tackle existing, new and emerging national security threats.
For more details about the new UK Data Protection Bill , see here
New UK data protection bill introduced to the House Of Lords
