DUA Bill should complete its passage through Parliament by Eater

Speaking on the keynote stage at the IAPP Data Protection Intensive UK conference in London this week, Chris Bryant, Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecoms, said the Data (Use and Access) Bill (DUA Bill) is in its "final straights" and that the House of Commons committee overseeing the Bill initially set aside five days to work through it but instead only needed two. With its passage out of the committee stage, the Bill will return to the House of Commons for the report stage on 12 March. Bryant is confident that the Bill will be finished by Easter or a "couple of weeks after." 

In discussing any future AI regulation, Bryant suggested that it may not fall under the remit of the ICO. "Who would police AI? That decision has yet to be made," Bryant said, adding that Information Commissioner John Edwards "isn't keen on policing AI." 

In a separate keynote address, Kate Jones, CEO of the UK Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum, discussed the need for cross-disciplinary approaches to digital matters, including data protection and AI governance. Moreover, Jones highlighted the opportunity to enable innovation. As regulators work to become more agile, Jones said, "We are looking for a more evaluative approach from you in industry," adding that data protection practitioners have become "strategy enablers" that "promote innovative approaches" that will help organisations "meet ongoing requirements of privacy and safety by design."