Hands Off Our Data

Your data will be used against you and you’ll have less ability to do anything about it.

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill gives the State and companies more access to our data with fewer limitations. What rights remain over our personal data are made harder to enforce.

The Data Grab Bill will:

  • Create powers to snoop on the bank accounts and financial assets of anyone who receives any benefit, Including the State Pension!
  • Make it harder to access your data by giving organisations more powers to refuse requests
  • Increase automated decision-making
  • Expand exemptions for data sharing, use and reuse
  • Increase political interference with the ICO without parliamentary oversight
  • Remove the need to carry out impact assessments
  • Create new powers to approve international data transfers

JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN

Your data rights are under attack. Tell the government to get their hands off your data and stop the Data Grab Bill.

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Why data protection matters

Data protection rights protect people across all aspects of life – at work, using NHS services, applying for jobs or renting a flat.

As the use of flawed and biased decision-making algorithms increases across every sector, data protection is particularly important for protecting the rights of marginalised groups, including migrants, LGBTQ people and people from racialised backgrounds.

The UK GDPR has been used to challenge unfair dismissals in the workplace, private companies’ use of public health data, and illegal profiling by advertising companies. The Data Grab Bill will undermine your ability to have control over how your data is processed.

FIND OUT MORE

Our analysis on how the Data Grab Bill worsens the power imbalance between us, the State and corporations.

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What’s wrong with the Data Grab Bill?

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill will erode data subject’s rights and corporate accountability mechanisms. It expands the Secretary of State’s powers in numerous ways, creating a greatly weakened data protection structure.

The Bill damages proper oversight of data processing, jeopardise sensitive information about UK residents, and create new opportunities for discrimination against vulnerable groups.

  • data subject rights and corporate accountability

Changes to Data Protection Impact Assessments remove the requirement for organisations to consult with data subjects who are affected by high risk data processing. Additionally, the bill lowers the threshold for organisations to refuse a Subject Access Request and removes individuals’ right to not to be subjected to solely automated decision making.

  • Oversight of data processing

The independence of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be reduced. As the ICO plays a key part in the oversight of the government’s use of data, this is extremely problematic.

  • Expansion of data processing

The Bill creates grounds for processing data and more exemptions to the limits that restrict how data can be processed. The Secretary of State could make changes to increase data the ways that data is used and reused without meaningful parliamentary oversight.

  • Data transfers

The Secretary of State would have the discretion to approve international data transfers to countries with insufficient data protection standards.

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Download our campaigning toolkit for you to take action to protect your data rights.

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The Story So Far

The DPDI Bill Threatens the Integrity of the UK General Election

In our latest briefing, Open Rights Group raises the alarm over changes in the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI Bill) that could open the floodgate for the abuse of data analytics and new technologies for electoral manipulation.
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The ICO Must Toughen Up

As the House of Lords finally begins scrutiny of the UK data protection reform, Open Rights Group urges peers to support amendments that would strengthen the independence and effectiveness of the UK data protection authority, and bolster the public’s right of seeking a remedy against an infringement of their rights.
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The Post Office Scandal and Data Protection

The Post Office scandal, which saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly convicted of fraud, is one of the UK’s biggest miscarriages of justice.
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Government powers overdrawn

Whether you are a pensioner or a parent, unemployed or living with a disability, you may be one of the millions of people who receive benefits from the State.
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UK DATA BRIDGE: A GLOBAL PRIVACY RACE TO THE BOTTOM

On October 12, the UK extension (Data Bridge) to the EU–US Transatlantic Data Privacy Framework (DPF) will come into force.
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The CPTPP: trading away your privacy rights

The Government have recently announced the UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
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The Data Grab Bill attacks our data rights

ORG sent an urgent open letter to Michelle Donelan MP, the Secretary of State for the new Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.
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Data Grab Bill from an EU perspective

A delegation from the European Parliament visited London and left with some rather scathing opinions about the UK data protection reform, but UK Ministers have been denying that there is any issue with their proposals.
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UK Government failing on AI regulation

The UK Government have published their vision for “Establishing a pro-innovation approach to regulating AI”.
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More Information

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