The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) indicated the likely content of the Data Reform Bill, in its response this week to its consultation, ‘Data: a new direction’, which closed in November.
It will increase fines for nuisance calls and texts and other serious breaches from the current £500,000 maximum to up to four per cent of global turnover or £17.5m, whichever is greater.
On cookies, the DCMS said it aimed to move to an opt-out model of consent in future but would allow this only for a small number of non-intrusive purposes for now.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be modernised to have a chair, chief executive and a board. The Commissioner, John Edwards welcomed the reforms, which would allow the ICO to be ‘more flexible’.
