Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL]

Official Summary

A bill to make provision about access to customer data and business data; to make provision about services consisting of the use of information to ascertain and verify facts about individuals; to make provision about the recording and sharing, and keeping of registers, of information relating to apparatus in streets; to make provision about the keeping and maintenance of registers of births and deaths; to make provision for the regulation of the processing of information relating to identified or identifiable living individuals; to make provision about privacy and electronic communications; to establish the Information Commission; to make provision about information standards for health and social care; to make provision about the grant of smart meter communication licences; to make provision about the disclosure of information to improve public service delivery; to make provision about the retention of information by providers of internet services in connection with investigations into child deaths; to make provision about providing information for purposes related to the carrying out of independent research into online safety matters; to make provision about the retention of biometric data; to make provision about services for the provision of electronic signatures, electronic seals and other trust services; to make provision about the creation and solicitation of purported intimate images and for connected purposes.

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Overview

The Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL] is a wide-ranging piece of legislation impacting data access, digital verification, national asset registers, birth/death records, data protection, and privacy. It aims to improve data access for citizens, regulate digital verification services, create national underground asset registers, modernize birth and death record-keeping, and strengthen data protection and privacy laws.

Description

The bill is divided into several parts. Part 1 grants the Secretary of State and Treasury powers to regulate access to customer and business data, allowing customers to request their data from data holders. It establishes decision-makers to approve data access requests and interface bodies to manage data sharing systems. Part 2 establishes a framework for digital verification services, including a trust framework, supplementary codes, a register of providers, and an information gateway. Part 3 creates national underground asset registers for England & Wales and Northern Ireland. Part 4 modernizes birth and death registration, moving towards digital records. Part 5 significantly amends the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, clarifying data protection principles, introducing new rules on automated decision-making, and strengthening the Information Commissioner's role. Part 6 abolishes the office of Information Commissioner and establishes the Information Commission. Part 7 introduces new provisions on information standards for health and social care, smart meter communication licences, data retention for child death investigations, information sharing for online safety research, biometric data retention, trust services, and regulations for web crawlers and AI models. Finally, Part 8 contains final provisions, including powers to make consequential amendments.

Government Spending

The bill's impact on government spending is not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, the creation of new registers (underground assets, births/deaths), the establishment of the Information Commission, and various regulatory functions will likely involve significant costs. Conversely, levies and fees imposed by the bill on data holders and other entities could generate revenue for the government.

Groups Affected

Customers: Increased access to their own data.
Businesses: New obligations regarding data access and potentially increased costs through levies and fees.
Digital Verification Service Providers: Subject to new regulations and registration requirements.
Public Authorities: New responsibilities for data sharing and record-keeping (national asset registers, birth/death records).
Data Controllers and Processors: Significant changes to data protection obligations.
Information Commissioner (replaced by Information Commission): Enhanced role and responsibilities.
Researchers: Potentially easier access to data for research purposes, subject to regulations.
Copyright Owners: New protections regarding data scraping by web crawlers and AI models.
Web Crawler and AI Model Operators: New transparency and compliance obligations.

Full Text

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