![]() Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden stated the following: “It means reforming our own data laws so that they’re based on common sense, not box-ticking.” The government also designated New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards as its preferred candidate to be the UK’s next Information Commissioner. The UK intends to revamp its data protection legal framework, which currently is based on the EU’s GDPR and privacy rules. These will add to the existing 42 adequacy arrangements the UK has in place. ![]() Future partnerships with India, Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia are also foreseen. It will prioritise “striking ‘data adequacy’ partnerships” with the United States, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Dubai International Finance Centre, and Colombia. The UK Government also made an important announcement regarding its post-Brexit data protection strategy. The measures on consumer protection enforcement will specifically address, inter alia, consumers’ access to ADR services such as arbitration and mediation. The reform will update consumer rights, especially concerning subscription contracts and prevention of online exploitation of consumer behaviours (including the promotion of ‘fairness by design’ principles), fake reviews, refunds and prepayment. On competition policy, the proposed measures target more effective market inquiries and reinforced investigative and enforcement powers across competition tools, stricter merger control, as well as stronger and faster enforcement against illegal anticompetitive conduct. This will strengthen consumer enforcement powers and bring them in line with antitrust and data protection enforcement, allowing the regulator (CMA) to impose significant administrative fines, up to 10% of global turnover. The consultation closes on 1 October.Īlongside this, the UK Government has opened a wider public consultation on a reform of competition and consumer policies. Special rules are also envisioned for the most popular social media sites concerning “content which is legal but could cause significant physical or psychological harm to adults.” The draft bill will also undergo pre-legislative scrutiny before adoption.Īnother important policy development is the new pro-competition regime for digital markets, which aims to provide the new Digital Markets Unit with appropriate powers to implement a specific “pro-competition regime” for firms with “Strategic Market Status” and interventions that will address “the root causes of market power,” including special merger control. Stricter rules have been proposed for child protection, for example, exposure to harmful content or activity such as grooming, bullying, pornography and also the encouragement or promotion of self-harm and eating disorders. It sets out a duty of care for internet companies, such as “social media, websites, apps and other services which host user-generated content or allow people to talk to others online.” The bill looks to remove and limit the spread of illegal content such as child sexual abuse, terrorist material and suicide content. The draft Online Safety Bill, published on 12 May this year, represents the new regulatory framework for tackling illegal and harmful content online. The UK will pursue “securing a pro-growth and trusted data regime,” as well as governance or regulatory frameworks for the development and deployment of systems for automated decision-making, which should help to build trustworthiness and consumers’ confidence in their use. ![]() The government commitment is “to proportionate regulation and, where appropriate, deregulation.” The three main principles stated as underpinning the UK’s post-Brexit digital regulatory plans are: i) Actively promote innovation ii) Achieve forward-looking and coherent outcomes iii) Exploit opportunities and address challenges in the international arena. On 6 July, the UK Government published the policy paper “ Digital Regulation: Driving growth and unlocking innovation,” laying down the principles and objectives for designing and implementing digital regulation. The UK is working tenaciously to adapt the regulatory framework to the post-Brexit context, with a strong focus on the digital economy, which plays a significant role for the UK’s future in the global technological race. The Summer 2021 European Policy Update UK’s Digital Regulatory Plans
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