Open rights group sound ‘Red Alert’ as Nadine Dorries announces bonfire of data rights
- Government’s Data Bill is dubbed as the ‘Data Oligarchs Charter’ by the privacy campaigning organisation, the Open Rights Group.
- This Bill turns the UK into a ‘global data laundering hub’, allowing data oligarchs to evade the rules by transferring data overseas without meaningful protections.
- This Bill turns the UK into a ‘digital police state’, as mass data sharing will be allowed with law enforcement agencies without proper checks and balances.
- This Bill undermines legal standards, disempower individuals, remove effective remedies and oversight against abuse.
Responding to the presentation of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), Nadine Dorries, Executive Director of the Open Rights Group, Jim Killock, said:
“In one of the hottest days of the year, Nadine Dorries has announced a bonfire of data rights.
“The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill turns up the heat on attacks on UK citizens’ fundamental rights and liberties. Undermining the rule of law, placing Ministers in charge of the regulator ICO (The Information Commissioner’s Office) and unleashing a new wave of Police surveillance powers.
“British businesses will be sweating as they try to get their heads around another costly and expensive change to the regulatory regime.
“This Data oligarchs charter will cheat workers out of their rights, increase regulatory costs for business, and will only benefit global tech companies.
“This bill will scrap important protections from prejudice and bias afforded to women, workers, patients, migrants, ethnic minorities, and vulnerable people and communities, and everyone else.
“This Bill will enshrine discrimination, bias and prejudice into UK law.”
ENDS
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Notes to editor:
ORG’s analysis of UK Data Reform Bill: “Data the wrong direction”: https://www.openrightsgroup.org/publications/data-the-wrong-direction/