Data protection trends for 2020
Data protection day may not be in everyone’s calendar. Other dates may be more exciting and have cakes and balloons. But data protection is an issue that affects everyone. What makes data laws scary is because they affect us all in ways most people don’t even consider.
This is why data protection is so important. It gives the world an opportunity to establish where we are in terms of data protection. As well as data trends that organisations should be looking out for in 2020:
Data History – 2020 brings in the 14th annual Data Protection Day, known as Data Privacy Day, outside of Europe. The date is significant because it marks the anniversary of a Council of Europe treaty in 1981. That has been a cornerstone of data protection in the decades since.
20 months ago, the biggest shake-up in data protection law in two decades was brought into regulation by the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
It hit the headlines in July 2019 when the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), announced they were fining British Airways and Marriott International. The fines were more than £183 million and £99 million for breaking rules set out in the GDPR.
This is an important event to consider as a business for the year ahead. But of course, there are other important aspects of data protection to keep in mind. Here are some data protection trends to look out for in 2020:
Data Protection in 2020
Brexit
Brexit is still going to be a big factor for British businesses in the year ahead. Especially with data protection laws because the GDPR is an EU regulation.
Obviously, Brexit is unpredictable. But as things stand there is going to be a transition period when the UK leaves the EU on the 31st of January 2020. This means that the GDPR will continue to apply in the UK up until the 31st December 2020.
However, it is unclear what the future EU-UK relationship is going to look like as negotiations continue. So, it is hard to guess how the existing data protection regulations for the UK are going to change. But what are some big complications that are foreseen?
The UK is going to likely need an adequacy decision once the transition period ends. This means that the European Commission considers a country to have the same level of data protection as the EU. The adequacy decision will ensure that data is able to flow uninterrupted between the UK and the EU.
The EU has stated they will seek to start its assessment for this decision as soon as possible. This is so they can decide by the end of the transition period. But there are no guarantees the UK will be able to meet the standards needed to reach these conditions. If the UK does not get an adequacy decision, there could be substantial consequences for the data flow between the UK and the EU.
ICO Statutory Codes
The Data Protection Act 2018, required the ICO to produce four statutory codes of practise focusing on:
- Age Appropriate Design
- Data Sharing
- Direct Marketing
- Data Protection and Journalism
The work for these codes has begun and finalising them is a priority for the ICO in 2020. But why are these statutory codes important? Because the ICO, courts, and tribunals are required to recognise their provisions in any cases brought before them. This is why it is important for any organisations to review the codes that apply to them once they’ve been issued.
Data Protection Case Law
As data protection becomes more known in the public consciousness, there are going to be high profile data legal cases. Currently, in both the UK and Europe there are cases in the courts concerning data protection issues. 2020 could be a big year for data protection law. As judgements on cases are made this could have huge impacts on the application and interpretation of the GDPR.
Thank you for reading this blog post on data protection in 2020. For more information or to discuss how we can assist your business, please contact Alex Zachary on 01753 279022 or email commercial@bpcollins.co.uk.