El Proyecto de Ley de Protección de Datos e Información Digital en Reino Unido (Parte I)

Abstract

The UK government is seizing the opportunity that Brexit offers to shape its domestic data protection laws and other related disciplines (i.e., e‐privacy and other digital information rules). That being said, this regulatory freedom is not absolute, since risking the Adequacy Decision of the European Commission is not a desirable scenario for the UK. Therefore, the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill is moderate in spirit, albeit it addresses a fortunate selection of topics. This new proposal, which is now under the Parliament scrutiny, attempts to boost the digital economy, while ensuring an adequate level of protection of the individuals. This is the classic perennial balancing exercise of power that now leads to revisit some key unclear concepts criticised by the doctrine, professionals, and the organisations regulated under this regime (mainly, controllers and processors). This legislative effort translates into the simplification of the language and the flexibility that new approaches to the existent regime provide for. Despite this plausible intention, the reactions are mixed. It seems that the bill does not convince everyone, as more business obstacles can be removed, and more safeguards can be introduced to protect by the individuals. In any case, this legal text is a good starting point.