Data Protection Bill to be welcomed but still needs work

Javier Ruiz – policy director at digital rights campaign organisation Open Rights Group – said,

“We welcome the Government’s intention to bring European data protection laws into UK law. It will strengthen everyone’s ability to control what data can be collected about them and how it can be used.

These laws could be fundamentally altered after Brexit. The Government must explain how these data protection rights will be guaranteed after the UK has left the EU.

We are disappointed that UK Ministers are not taking up the option in EU law to allow consumer privacy groups to lodge independent data protection complaints as they can currently do under consumer rights laws.

Citizens face increasingly complex data ecosystems. It is almost impossible for average person to be able to know which organisations hold their personal data. Enabling privacy groups to take independent action will ensure consumers’ rights are properly enforced.”