Government announces a new Digital Information and Smart Data Bill

Today, the new Labour government announced plans for its legislative programme including a Digital Information and Smart Data Bill.

The commentary(1) does not refer to abolishing the current Data Protection Act 2018 but does bring forward some of the content in the previous government’s Data Protection and Digital Information Bill abandoned just before the general election.

The introduction sets the broad aim: “The Government wants to ensure we harness the power of data for economic growth, to support a modern digital government, and to improve people’s lives.”

The plan continues by stating:

“The Bill will enable new innovative uses of data to be safely developed and deployed and will improve people’s lives by making public services work better by reforming data sharing and standards; help scientists and researchers make more life enhancing discoveries by improving our data laws; and ensure your data is well protected by giving the regulator (the ICO) new, stronger powers and a more modern structure. These measures start delivering on the Government’s commitment to better serve the British public through science and technology.”

The plan includes:

1. establishing Digital Verification Services to provide “secure and trusted digital identity products and services from certified providers to help with things like moving house, pre-employment checks, and buying age restricted goods and services.” The document has the ambition that “Digital Verification Services will help people and businesses to make the most of identity-checking technologies with confidence and peace of mind.”
2. setting up Smart Data schemes, which are the secure sharing of a customer’s data upon their request, with authorised third-party providers.”
3. more and better digital public services - “By making changes to the Digital Economy Act we will help the Government share data about businesses that use public services.”

Marketing data

There is an oblique reference to sharing data for marketing purposes when the document states “Scientists will be able to ask for broad consent for areas of scientific research, and allow legitimate researchers doing scientific research in commercial settings to make equal use of our data regime.”

The ICO

The Bill’s plans for changing the ICO’s structure are the same as those in the previous Bill and also states without any details that the ICO “will have new, stronger powers.”

There is nothing explicit in the text about individual rights.

Privacy Laws & Business will organise an event to help the PL&B Community gain an understanding of these plans at the first opportunity.