The UK data protection landscape may be changing – and the new Information Commissioner will be in the centre of it all. Edwards said that above all, he wants to make privacy easy for both organisations and individuals. The GDPR is about “how to”, not “don’t do”, he said. The pandemic has showed us that data can be shared without friction when there is real urgency.

At a pre-appointment hearing with Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on 9 September, Edwards said that the UK is entitled to find its own way after Brexit – there is plenty of scope for difference from the EU. Edwards emphasised to the Committee that New Zealand has an EU adequacy finding despite the law not being identical with the EU GDPR.