The Parliament of the United Kingdom published, on 18 July 2022, the written ministerial statement made by Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure, Matt Warman, in which he confirmed that the Government will introduce the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill to the House of Commons, following the publication of the Government's response to the public consultation Data: A New Direction. In particular, Warman summarised some of the proposed reforms to the UK data regime following its departure from the EU, noting that countries are not required to have the same rules in order to be granted adequacy and as such he believes that the reforms are compatible with maintaining free flow of personal data from the European Economic Area. More specifically, Warman emphasised that the Bill proposes reforms related to, among other things:

• increasing fines for nuisance calls and texts;
• notification to the ICO by telecommunication network providers;
• removing the need for cookie banner pop-ups for low risk activities such as audience measurement;
• facilitating use of digital identities; and
• new structure and objectives of the Information Commissioner's Office ('ICO').

The statement was also made in the House of Lords by Minister for Arts, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay.

You can read the statement here.

UPDATE (18 July 2022)

Bill introduced to House of Commons for first reading

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill ('Bill 143') was introduced, on 18 July 2022, to the House of Commons by the Government. In particular, the bill was given its first reading, a formal stage which takes place without any debate.

Members of Parliament will next consider the Bill at Second Reading on Monday 5 September 2022.

You can read the bill here, the explanatory notes here, the impact assessment summary here, impact assessment here, and track the bill's progress here.