HomeInsightsUkie comments on Governments statement of intent to publish Data Protection Bill

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Ukie notes that in his statement of intent, Matt Hancock MP, Minister of State for Digital, stated that the Government “will give people more control over their data, require more consent for its use, and prepare Britain for Brexit.”

Ukie explains that the Bill will seek to achieve this by introducing the rights set out in the GDPR, including the rights to be forgotten and data portability, as well as exercising a number of derogations.  The notable derogations, for the games and interactive entertainment industry, that the UK will be introducing to the GDPR include:

  • Right to be forgotten: Ukie explains that, as set out in the Conservative manifesto, the UK intends to expand the right to be forgotten, to have a specific requirement on social media companies to erase personal data held on a user from when they were under 18 if requested to do so;
  • Age of consent: the GDPR allows the UK to determine the age at which a child may consent to the processing of their personal data, and the new Bill will indicate that this will be set at 13; and
  • Exemptions for research: the Government will ensure that significant exemptions will be brought forward to allow the processing of data for research purposes.

Most welcome in statement of intent, Ukie says, is the assertion that the Government will seek to ensure that data flows between the UK and EU, as well as third countries, will remain uninterrupted following the UK’s exit from the EU.  Ukie says that the statement “rightly acknowledges” the significant importance of cross border data transfers to the UK economy which it states have a larger impact on growth than traditional goods flows.

Ukie says that it has repeatedly emphasised the importance of ensuring that the free flow of data between the UK and EU continues to the games industry, and this statement of intent is “a welcome step in the right direction.”  To read Ukie’s press release in full, click here.

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