Unsurprisingly he spoke about the major listening exercise which the ICO announced back in January, involving a series of events taking place across the UK alongside a survey, open until 1st May 2022, to elicit views from businesses, organisations and people about their experiences of working with the regulator.
Of interest to UK businesses were his views on proposed government’s reforms of UK data protection laws following Brexit, which have not as yet been announced, following upon last year’s consultation by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), titled “Data: A new direction.”
The Commissioner reassured that ‘there is nothing in what is proposed that imposes additional burdens on business” which reflect an intention to streamline UK law in a way that more effectively protects people’s privacy rights.
Importantly, in his view, the proposed reforms, if implemented, would not jeopardise the adequacy arrangements which enable the continuing flow of personal data between UK organisations and those in the EU.
He explained that later this year, the ICO will reveal its three-year plan (called ICO25) setting out the regulator’s values, aspirations, and priorities, making it clear that his focus will be on bringing certainty to what UK law requires of organisations processing personal data.
If you have any questions on any of the issues mentioned in the above article, please contact Sean Morris.