Today, RSI briefed the UK Parliament on the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill, advising that it removes clauses 24-26 from the Bill.
The government markets the Bill as business-friendly, allowing businesses to use personal data in a more convenient way than under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). But this is not the full story. The Bill is also a power grab: it would give the government and police significant, new and unaccountable powers to invade the personal lives of people in the UK, potentially on a massive scale.
In its briefing, RSI argues that clauses 24-26 grant unnecessary and unaccountable powers to the police and the Home Secretary to use our personal data. At the same time, these clauses take away power from the courts, Parliament, and the people to understand and challenge how personal data is used.
For more information, see the below briefing.