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ARTICLE · 06 DECEMBER 2024

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Balancing Act: What The Data (Use And Access) Bill Means For Businesses

Macfarlanes LLP
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The UK's Data (Use and Access) (DUA) Bill aims to ease data processing for UK businesses by introducing modest reforms to GDPR-like rules, including relaxed provisions for automated decision-making, scientific research, and cookie consent. However, dual UK-EU compliance remains necessary.

United KingdomPrivacy
Rosie Duckworth
Rosie Duckworth
Matthew Bennett
Matthew Bennett
Martha Crnkovic
Martha Crnkovic
Julia Inselseth
Julia Inselseth

On 24 October 2024, the UK Parliament saw the introduction of the Data (Use and Access) (DUA) Bill. This is the second attempt to reform the EU GDPR (as retained by the UK following Brexit) after the previous effort, the Data Protection and Digital Information (DPDI) Bill, fell over earlier this year.

Like the DPDI Bill, the aim of the DUA Bill is to simplify access to, and use of, personal data for UK data controllers, without going so far as to erode the protections that give the UK its adequacy in the EU. There is a strong focus on easing the administrative burden of using personal data, by clarifying the kinds of activities that the UK would consider either low risk or in the public's interest. Many of the changes are "tweaks" rather than structural changes. Businesses will therefore need to carefully assess if these changes are relevant to them. For businesses that operate across the UK and EU, these changes may be of limited practical benefit and impose the

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