A replacement date is yet to be set for the Bill, which reforms the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other privacy legislation originating from the EU.
Rosie Nance, practice development lawyer, Pinsent Masons, said the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) drafted the Bill ‘with the stated intention of promoting an evolution rather than a revolution in UK data protection law.
‘It remains to be seen whether there will be a change of tack under a new prime minister and secretary of state in the DCMS, following the resignation of Nadine Dorries who had sponsored the Bill.’ Dorries has been replaced by Michelle Donelan.
Criticisms of the Bill include that it waters down rights and reduces accountability at a time when government and state bodies are collecting, processing and automating ever more information on people.