Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On June 21, 2017, in the Queen’s Speech to Parliament, the UK government confirmed its intention to press ahead with the implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) into national law. Among the announcements on both national and international politics, the Queen stated that, “A new law will ensure that the United Kingdom retains its world-class regime protecting personal data, and proposals for a new digital charter will be brought forward to ensure that the United Kingdom is the safest place to be online.” The statement confirms the priority given to data protection issues by the UK government. The UK government specifically confirmed that a new data protection bill will be brought forward to implement the EU GDPR and the EU Directive, which applies to law enforcement data processing. By doing so, the UK government intends to maintain the highest standards of data protection to ensure that data flows with EU Member States and other countries of the world will be maintained after Brexit. The Information Commissioner’s Office’s powers and available sanctions will also be increased.