Data Protection and Digital Information Bill falls ahead of the UK General Election

The Data Protection and Digital Information (DPDI) Bill failed to complete its passage into law before Parliament was prorogued, ahead of the UK General Election on July 4.

Any bills and draft secondary legislation had only two days to pass into law before a cut-off date of May 24. Any legislation that does not complete its passage by the end of this ‘wash-up’ period would need to be reintroduced in the next Parliament.

The DPDI Bill aims to reform the data protection regime with post-Brexit changes to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. It would also have created a statutory basis for new ‘smart data’ regimes in different sectors.

Additionally, the DPDI Bill would have put digital identify verification services onto a statutory footing and introduced regulation of providers of these services.

Controversial amendments to the Bill

UK trade association techUK is blaming a failure to agree a way forward between members of the House of Lords on controversial late amendments added by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

These amendments facilitated data sharing between the DWP and private companies, mainly banks, with the aim to prevent fraud. However, the amendments attracted controversy and were widely opposed in the House of Lords, said techUK, which didn’t support the amendments. The organisation said they did not form part of the consultation process around the Bill, and were added at a late stage with limited industry consultation. 

The Ada Lovelace Institute also said that “As drafted, the Bill would have compromised vital protections for people affected by harmful or exploitative uses of data, including some types of AI.

“It would have enabled widespread data use for ‘democratic engagement’, risking further Cambridge Analytica-style scandals,” it said.

“It would have circumscribed the independence of the ICO, and abolished the Biometrics Commissioner.”

TechUK: Fall of DPDI Bill “disappointing”

However, techUK noted that there was broad support in Parliament for the wider reforms the Bill introduced, and its fall “is therefore disappointing.”

“The UK tech industry will be frustrated at the failure of the Bill to pass, particularly given the extensive consultation on the Bill that had taken place. Following the election, it will now be the responsibility of the next Government to resume these reforms.”

TechUK said whichever party wins the election should build on the progress made in the Bill by seeking to create “a pro-innovation and high standard data protection regime for the UK.”

This should include enabling smart data and digital ID schemes to allow people to better manage their data and interact with public services.