Post-Brexit Britain is Overhauling its Data Privacy Law

Sep 20, 2021 | News

In more news on national privacy laws, post-Brexit Britain is using its newfound freedom from the EU to set its own data privacy regulatory agenda.

According to the country’s culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, Britain could put an end to “irritating cookie popups and consent requests online,” and set new rules based on “common sense, not box-ticking.” New Zealand’s highly regarded privacy commissioner, John Edwards, has been appointed information commissioner to lead the change.

But while Britain plans to move away from the GDPR with a “world leading data policy,” any new rules it sets will still need to protect EU-to-UK data transfers.

It appears that Britain wants to revert to a data protection or privacy framework that is not as strict as the GDPR and will try to redefine the appropriate balance between individual and commercial interests. Every country has a slightly different spin on that based on their history and how they arrived at their law. 

A new British data privacy law could look more like the CCPA. It will be interesting to see where it lands. 

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