What is Next for GDPR in the UK, is Change on the Horizon?

The Court of Appeal has recently handed down an important decision in respect of data protection law considerations in Farley & Others v Paymaster (trading as Equiniti) [2025] EWCA Civ 1117, providing clarity on the scope of infringement and compensation data protection claims under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA”). The judgment will be of particular interest to any service provider dealing with and processing large volumes of customer personal data.  

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (the “DUAA”), which received Royal Assent on 19 June 2025, introduces targeted reforms to the UK data protection legal framework — particularly the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (“PECR”).

Losing a loved one when you think it may be because they received poor medical care is incredibly stressful at a time when family and friends are grieving their loss.  Often, people want to see a written record of the final days of their loved one and what happened to them, or they might want to go through years of records to ascertain whether there was diagnosis that may have been missed, such as cancer.

Asylum seekers often find themselves in a vulnerable position, sharing sensitive and confidential information with the Home Office to support their asylum claims. Their cooperation is required to substantiate their claim and they rely on the understanding that this information will remain confidential and, most crucially, will not be shared with the authorities of their country of nationality.

Emily Carter explores anticipated developments in the realm of data protection.

On 12 October 2023, the UK-US Data Bridge (the “Data Bridge”) came into force, transforming the way both nations handle the flow of information across their borders. In this blog we explore the position before and after the introduction of the Data Bridge, looking at the key implications, benefits and challenges associated with the transatlantic data-sharing initiative.

Emily Carter asks whether the proposed reforms within the  Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill (‘the Bill’) are likely to simplify the challenges of responding to Data Subject Access Requests (‘DSARs’) or whether this is an area which is only going to get more complicated and time consuming.  

After many months waiting for further clarity, Emily Carter outlines what we now know about the direction of data protection reform in the UK following publication of the Data Protection and Digital Information (no. 2) Bill.

After the Government’s consultation in September 2021 and publication of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill in July 2022, the data reform process was paused last Autumn following the country’s change in prime minister to enable ministers to consider the legislation further. Since this time, with Michele Donelan appointed as the responsible secretary of state, there have been mixed messages with respect to how significant the further amendment to the draft bill would be. In her speech at the Conservative party conference in October, Donelan stated that the GDPR would be ‘replaced’ with a business and consumer friend data protection system, raising the prospect of an entirely new approach to data protection.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regulates every organisation which deals with personal data and official data in the UK (and sometimes overseas). Its remit extends across the public and private sector, including multinationals, SMEs, public authorities and charities.

A damning report published by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has found police forces to be “overwhelmed and ineffective” in relation to digital forensics. The HMICFRS found that there were more than 25,000 devices waiting to be examined – and this is without taking into account all the devices already in the system.

Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the Government wishes to reform the data protection legislation within this country in order to ‘unlock the power of data.’ For charities, does this mean the painful prospect of reworking their existing GDPR compliance regime or the promise of a lighter regulatory load?

High on the Government’s wish list for data protection reform is the reduction of legislative barriers to ‘responsible innovation,’ particularly within the field of scientific research. Due to perceived complexity and lack of clarity, it is feared that organisations either choose not to conduct research at all or rely on unnecessarily burdensome consent processes. This blog considers the likely impact of the Government’s ideas

On 20 December 2021 the ICO launched a consultation seeking views on three documents, which together demonstrate its wide-ranging powers to undertake investigatory, regulatory and enforcement action.  

In this blog series, we will review the key proposals for reform of data protection law within the Government’s consultation paper ‘Data: A New Direction’. We will consider how far the Government will stray from the current path and signpost some potential pitfalls and practicalities for consideration along the way

In this blog series, we will review the key proposals for reform of data protection law within the Government’s consultation paper ‘Data: A New Direction’. We will consider how far the Government will stray from the current path and signpost some potential pitfalls and practicalities for consideration along the way.

In this blog series, we will review the key proposals for reform of data protection law within the Government’s consultation paper ‘Data: A New Direction’. We will consider how far the Government will stray from the current path and signpost some potential pitfalls and practicalities for consideration along the way.

We begin with the Government’s proposals for creating a ‘whitelist’ of legitimate interests which always provide a lawful basis for processing under the UK GDPR. 

On 10 September 2021 the UK Government launched a Consultation on proposed changes to data protection law with the aim to “create a more pro-growth and pro-innovation data regime, whilst maintaining the UK’s world-leading data protection standards”. The proposals are designed to build on the UK’s existing data protection regime (contained in the General Data Protection Regulation (as it applies in the UK post-Brexit) (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018).

The General Data Protection Regulation (known to everyone as the GDPR) is probably the most famous piece of legislation to come from the EU. It was and is incredibly ambitious in its scope, and shapes the way we engage with organisations both online and in the real world. When the UK formally withdrew from the EU, GDPR became retained EU law and continued to apply as before. The government have recently announced that they want to reform data protection legislation, but substantial deregulation might be an unrealistic ambition.

It is now more than two years since the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR came into force, significantly increasing the enforcement powers of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). With the passing of the Act, the ICO gained the power to issue fines amounting to millions of pounds and increased powers to bring criminal prosecutions against organisations who fail to comply with the data protection regime.

Dominic Raab announced last week that the current UK lockdown would last for at least another three weeks. These restrictions are unlikely to be relaxed until a large scale plan is in place to track and restrict the spread of the virus. Part of this plan will involve the use of the NHS “contact tracing” app, which we have been told is in an advanced stage of development.