Data Protection law changes – update

On 8th March 2023, the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill was formally withdrawn, and the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill was published and given its 1st reading, and we await a date for the 2nd reading.

DPDI 1 was published in July 2022 with the aim of simplifying the data protection framework, to reduce burdens on organisations, but keeping the high standards which are a part of the current UK GDPR.

After the government changes last Autumn, DPDI 1 was shelved, and is now being replaced with DPDI 2. One of the objectives is to unlock £4.7 billion of savings for the UK economy, although there is little detail on how this will be achieved.

It appears that the UK government intends to bring this into law quite quickly; so let us hope that the ICO is just as quick in clarifying what we need to do, and how much (if anything) we need to change. Let us also hope that the changes do not jeopardise the EU adequacy decision.

You can read the UK government press release at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-businesses-to-save-billions-under-new-uk-version-of-gdpr