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One makes it through the pre-election, another languishes in the Lords

Posted on by darion

Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to call a general election disrupted progress on technology legislation making its way through the House of Commons.

One important piece of legislation has been passed, another has been defeated in the House of Lords and cannot now be passed before Parliament is dissolved.

What’s the rush?

On Wednesday this week, the Prime Minister announced the next UK general election to be held on July 4. By law, parliament must be dissolved 25 working days before election day, so all business must be completed by May 30.

We are currently in the so-called “catch-up” period, during which final draft bills are being considered to become law. Any unfinished business is lost upon resolution.

What’s gone and what’s stuck?

Before the elections were announced, two main laws were close to being passed: the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) and the Data Protection and Digital Information Act (DPDI).

Other pieces of legislation affecting the technology sector, such as the Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill, have been making their way through Parliament, but none have reached the final stage.

The DMCC Bill, the UK’s version of the EU’s Digital Markets Bill, has passed the House of Commons and House of Lords and now only awaits royal assent.

The soon-to-become law bill will give the Digital Markets Unit (a branch of the Competition and Markets Authority) specific powers to identify large companies with significant market influence and fine them for anti-competitive practices.

Big Tech lobbied heavily against the DMCC during the bill’s debate in parliament, but industry organizations such as the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) welcomed its passage.

CAF CEO Rick VanMeter said he was “excited” about the bill’s passage, calling it “another important step in the growing global movement for fair digital markets.”

DPDI stops

On the other hand, DPDI failed to pass the House of Lords and will now be postponed until the next government is formed.

DPDI is an attempt to translate the GDPR into UK law. Before the election was announced, it was approaching the reporting (final) stage in the House of Lords, it met with virtually no opposition and it seemed that it would be completed.

However, the bill does not appear in the context of the upcoming end-term work of the House of Lords, indicating that the government has withdrawn it.

The bill aimed to make GDPR more practical and less burdensome in lower-risk situations. It clarifies certain aspects of legitimate interest (e.g. tracking for marketing purposes) and makes the transfer of personal data to third countries risk-based.

Unlike GDPR, under DPDI organizations could deny data subjects requests for access to data or charge a fee for providing information. The requirement for companies to employ a special data protection officer has also been removed.

If the next government is Conservative, DPDI will likely be resurrected and pass quickly. However, if a Labor government comes to power, it is likely that there will be significant changes to the Act, including the possibility of introducing artificial intelligence legislation.