Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Data Protection: GDPR and Other EU Regulations

Thursday 10 December 2020 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Martyn Day inquired about discussions on retaining GDPR and other EU data protection regulations post-transition period.
  • The UK government committed to maintaining high data protection standards post-transition through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
  • John Nicolson questioned the Information Commissioner's findings regarding the Conservative party's data practices, which involved racial and religious profiling of voters.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Martyn Day SNP
Brexit
Context

Discussions about retaining GDPR standards post-Brexit.

Question

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the retention of (a) the GDPR and (b) other EU regulations on data protection after the transition period?

Answer from John Whittingdale

The general data protection regulation regime will be retained in domestic law after the transition period through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The UK remains committed to maintaining high data protection standards now and in the future.

Answered
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Q2 Martyn Day SNP
Brexit
Context

Questions about maintaining and improving digital rights law after the transition period.

Question

The EU has been a world leader when it comes to the protection of citizens' digital rights. This is evidenced by the large number of countries, such as South Korea, Japan and Brazil, that sought to emulate its groundbreaking GDPR policy. As the end of the transition period looms, how will the UK Government ensure that digital rights law not only lives up to the EU's high standards but exceeds them?

Answer from John Whittingdale

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that the GDPR has ensured that we have high standards and, as I say, we are absolutely committed to maintaining them. We have no intention of diverging substantially from GDPR, but obviously we will be looking to see whether there are ways in which we can improve our regime while maintaining those high standards.

Partly answered

Not addressed: specific plan on exceeding EU standards

How: Commitment Without Specifics, Looking For Improvements

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Q3 John Nicolson SNP
Democracy & Elections Religion & Faith
Context

The Information Commissioner revealed that the Conservative party had racially and religiously profiled 10 million voters at the last election.

Question

The independent Information Commissioner recently revealed that the Conservative party had racially and religiously profiled 10 million voters at the last election. I was shocked to learn that it did this by buying data that identified a person's…ethnic origin and religion based on their first and last name. Can the Minister explain to the House why his party does this?

Answer from John Whittingdale

As I recall, the Information Commissioner examined the practices of all political parties and made comments against all of them. However, it did not find that any breaches of the law had occurred.

Not addressed: specific explanation for Conservative Party's data profiling

How: Shifting Blame To Other Parties, Referencing Lack Of Findings

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