DUAB may make life easier for business

The new Data (Use and Access) Bill continues its passage through Parliament with the Report stage in the House of Lords on 21 and 28 January. In this issue our contributors look in more detail into four areas where there are some novelties; cookies, automated decision-making, digital identities and international data transfers.

Some aspects of the Bill will be welcomed by DPOs such as the legitimate interest grounds for direct marketing, or narrowing SAR searches to what is “reasonable and proportionate”. It is also reassuring that there will be no changes to the DPO role, rejecting the proposals in the previous Bill.

But there are also open questions about the interpretation of some of the Bill’s wording, as was evident at the Bill Briefing event organised by PL&B with Linklaters. It may be that much of this work is left to the ICO in terms of issuing guidance. One area which generated a lively discussion was the new definition of “scientific research”. While the Bill makes this concept wider it is still not clear what can reasonably be described as “scientific”. Does the research need to be for public good? Or peer reviewed?

The Bill also establishes further protections for children by placing an additional statutory duty on the ICO to consider children's vulnerability regarding data processing. Children’s privacy was also at centre stage at the global DPAs’ assembly in Jersey in October last year.

PL&B is organising a one-day conference in London on 11 March on protecting children’s privacy. Subscribers to PL&B Reports can get a free place at this event with speakers from the ICO, Lego, K-ID and Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Laura Linkomies
Editor, Privacy Laws & Business

January 2025

Previous

Contents

Next