‘Brexit’s biggest rewards’: New data bill makes way through parliament
New data reforms, which digital secretary Nadine Dorries reckons will be “one of Brexit’s biggest rewards”, is set to be debated in parliament today.
Under the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, firms will be given the flexibility to protect personal data in more proportionate ways rather than forcing them to follow the same processes regardless of their size.
The aim is to remove the prescriptive requirements inherited from the EU, moving away from the GDPR’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to handling data.
The reforms will also modernise the structure and objectives of the Information Commissioner’s Office, including appointing a chair, chief executive and board, to make sure it remains a leading regulator for data.
DCMS estimates the changes will deliver around £1bn in business savings over the next ten years.
“With this Bill, we will build a new, independent data regime. One that with a number of common-sense changes, frees up our businesses and unlocks scientific and economic growth, while maintaining our high data protection standards,” Dorries is expected to tell the House today.
“If we were still in the EU, we’d have to keep following the current approach. Thanks to Brexit, we don’t. This data Bill is one of Brexit’s biggest rewards. It allows us to create a pro-growth, trusted system – one that is designed not for Brussels, but for the people of the UK,” she added.