On Thursday, 31 October 2024, UK Information Commissioner John Edwards published a detailed response to the Data (Use and Access) Bill (DUA) introduced in the House of Lords last week.
Commissioner Edwards generally views the DUA Bill as a constructive reform package that should enable the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to function as a "trusted, fair and independent regulator," thereby enhancing its operations. In addition, Commissioner Edwards explained that the Bill maintains a high standard of data protection, which safeguards the information rights of data subjects, provides regulatory certainty for organisations and fosters growth and innovation within the UK economy.
Addressing the various areas within the DUA Bill, the Commissioner stressed the need for privacy by design to be built into smart data initiatives, while digital verification services and information standards for health and social care require appropriate protections to ensure public trust and confidence are maintained.
On the topic of data protection reforms and strengthening regulatory independence and accountability, the Commissioner stated that he welcomes the Labour government's recognition of stakeholder concerns over perceived challenges to regulatory independence. On the latter point, the Commissioner said, "Having an independent regulator, that is also properly accountable to Parliament, is vital for a data protection regime to function properly. It is also key to maintaining the UK's adequacy status from the EU, which we know is a priority for so many of our stakeholders."
In addition, the Commissioner welcomed the data processing clarification of legitimate interests in automated decision-making, which he said strikes a balance between "facilitating the benefits of automation and maintaining additional protection for special category data."
The Commissioner also supports the proposed reforms to international data transfers and reduced cookie consent requirements, which provide greater clarity to stakeholders on how the government will make adequacy decisions and reduce the need for organisations to obtain consent for low-risk purpose cookies, respectively.
A supplementary Annex outlines the areas (already shared with the government) that the Commissioner believes would benefit from additional clarity.
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