This is important news for data protection lawyers and practitioners. And indeed for data subjects. The government has created a role of Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecomms, and has appointed Sir Chris Bryant as the first post-holder.
He will have responsibility for Digital infrastructure and telecoms, Building Digital UK (BDUK), Data protection, including the “Data Bill” (does this mean the Digital Information and Smart Data (DISM) Bill, or something else to come down the line?), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Digital inclusion, and
Space sector growth and UK Space Agency (UKSA).
In debates on the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill Bryant, then the Shadow Culture secretary, supported the proposed reforms to the ICO and provisions on digital verification and smart data (which have been revived now in the DISM Bill), but opposed what Labour saw as attempts by the then government to water down subject access rights, and opposed extending the PECR soft opt-in to political party marketing. He also expressed notable concerns about the proposal to confer wide powers on DWP to get information from financial service providers.
In those debates, Bryant said that Labour wanted a law which “would unlock the new potential for data that improves public services, protects workers from data power imbalances and delivers cutting-edge scientific research, while also building trust for consumers and citizens”.
Perhaps a bit platitudinous (would anyone disagree with that desire?) but also perhaps an indication of the tone he will want to set in this new role.
The views in this post (and indeed most posts on this blog) are my personal ones, and do not represent the views of any organisation I am involved with.
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