The EU’s Vision for Big Data

In a recent hearing at the US Senate, the CEOs of Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple testified before the US Senate concerning antitrust issues. As the BBC’s James Clayton (North America Technology Reporter) noted, “central to the interrogation will be whether these tech giants are simply too big”. This issue has long been a concern in the EU, with many advocating the stricter regulation of tech conglomerates over the issue of data privacy. With the UK set to break ties off further with the EU come January 2021, Government policy-makers will have to pay much more attention to big data developments within the private sectors.

Every month our story series will track these changes in tech policy globally with a focus on the UK and EU — Keeping you informed on key data trends emerging across the digital world.

While Parliament is on Summer Recess, looking at active bills there is surprisingly little tech or data legislation passing through Parliament. The last major data legislation was the Data Protection Act 2018. While passed only two years ago, the tech world develops rapidly. This was only spurred on by Covid-19 with Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, noting that the pandemic had seen two years of technological advancement in a mere two months. With this being the case, only three tech bills are currently active in either Houses of Parliament, with two yet to receive a date for their Second Reading: The Data Protection (Independent Complaint) Bill, The Digital Economy Act 2017 (Commencement of Part 3) Bill, and The Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill. The only one of much interest to the data world is the Data Protection (Independent Complaint) Bill.

Introduced by Baroness Kidron, an Independent Peer, it aims to allow representative bodies or organisations to exercise independent complaints and remedy rights on behalf of data subjects in breaches of data privacy. It is designed to strengthen recourse in the case of data breaches for more vulnerable groups who may have limited access to justice such as the elderly, children, and women at risk of domestic abuse, among others.

While this is an important bill which aims to have a positive impact on the data landscape, it is far from the comprehensive renewal that many within Westminster and Whitehall are calling for. The Government has set up a National Data Strategy (NDS) which “will be an ambitious, pro-growth strategy that drives the UK in building a world-leading data economy while ensuring public trust in data use”. The initiative has taken public evidence and consultation from over 20 roundtables and 250 organisations, including SMEs, academics, civil society, and public sector organisations. Among its initial findings, the NDS highlighted the clear need for better utilisation of public data within government and Whitehall amid the Covid-19 pandemic. We will keep a close eye on the NDS’s activities as it hopes to publish a full first report before the end of this year.

While legislation is lacking, Government rhetoric is not. Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s Senior Advisor, has long advocated the integration of big data and data science into Whitehall’s and №10’s policy processes. Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, in a recent speech to the UK Tech Cluster Group, focused on the need to support a digital economy with a digitally skilled society — citing the need for a GI inspired bill, which re-trained and equipped returning US soldiers to re-join a transforming economy after WW2. Dowden also noted the central role the new 5G network will play in spearheading the UK’s post-Covid-19 recovery.

While the UK is playing catch-up to the tech giants in the private sectors, the EU, appear to at least, have a stronger grip on things. The EU published in February 2020 a new ‘European Strategy for Data’, signalling a significant shift from their previous GDPR policy approach. They did so with the pretence that “the success of Europe’s digital transformation over the next five years will depend on establishing frameworks to ensure trustworthy technologies, and to give businesses the confidence and means to digitise”.

The Strategy is…

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