The Government published its Statement of Intent yesterday in relation to the new Data Protection Bill anticipated in September 2017. This had been mentioned by the Queen, no less, in her speech following the 2017 General Election. This was also published taking into account the views expressed by those responding to the consultation exercise which took place earlier this year identifying the areas where the UK Government can derogate from the provisions in the GDPR.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will have direct effect throughout Europe from 25 May 2018. The UK will still be in Europe at that time. The Government has confirmed that UK businesses will need to comply.
Around now, Scots worldwide celebrate the works of Robert Burns. Two lines from his famous work, ‘Tam O’Shanter’, will be spoken at many events: “Gathering her brows like gathering storm, nursing her wrath to keep it warm”. Buffeted by data breaches, hacks or ransomware and with the regulator or affected individuals increasingly willing to make the consequences for business financial, Directors and mangers may empathise with Tam’s imagined vision of his wife’s reaction to his late return.
Does your business have an online e-commerce platform or marketing website or are you in the process of developing a new website? Despite the ubiquity of the internet, we see a surprising number of issues arising from businesses launching or redeveloping their websites without obtaining adequate advice about domain names, intellectual property and data protection.
