Thread by @EinsteinsAttic

"#Data: a new direction" - a public consultation by @DCMS on "reforms to the UK’s #DataProtection regime":

gov.uk/government/con…

The consultation ends on 19 Nov 2021, and you can respond by e-mail to [e-mail] or online here:

dcms.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4P…

A quick sample of initial reactions...

We're clearly going to be hearing a lot about #LegitimateInterests, as well as #commercial and #public ones. The real question being, how do this Government's interests actually align with YOURS?

https://twitter.com/riptari/status/1436269901799428097

140+ pages on a Friday is a lot to digest, but @lilianedwards' "penumbra of often futile determinedly populist ideas largely not evidence-based" seems entirely consistent with @DCMS's Drunkard's Walk through #data and #ID this past year...

https://twitter.com/lilianedwards/status/1436283233377951745

But... but... it's all about #innovation, don'tcha know?

OF COURSE their plan is baldly profit centric. What else is Government for? (I'm also not entirely sure that at this point they'd recognise a #principle, even if they happened to read one...)

https://twitter.com/TrialByTruth/status/1436266949915430918

REALLY important point from @CampaignFoI that shouldn't be lost.

Weakening #SubjectAccess would be a direct assault on our fundamental #rights as #citizens within the #InformationSociety:

https://twitter.com/CampaignFoI/status/1436282119198806017

#DataProtection IS NOT #FreedomOfInformation and never should be!

A point emphasised by @WorkerInfoX, which uses #SARs in challenging unfair dismissals and making algorithmic management systems transparent:

https://twitter.com/WorkerInfoX/status/1436320751540449285

HT @lilianedwards

Then there's this [Thread] of [Threads] from @WolfieChristl:

https://twitter.com/WolfieChristl/status/1436291630152175617

Prompted in large part by those ever-expanding (and ever-expandable) #LegitimateInterests...

(a) doesn't seem *too* contentious - though a person's "#concerns" aren't the same as criminal #acts.

While delivering #statutory public comms *may* make sense, who decides what is & what isn't a "public health & safety message" for (b) - plus, #AllYourMailingListsAreBelongToUs?

Not sure (c) should be a "#LegitimateInterest" as much as a #LawfulObligation. Indeed, depending on the type of #bias, I think it already is!

(d) is transparently what #AdTech has lobbied for; not so much a 'massacre of the #cookies' as @OliverDowden selling you down the river..

#Security is good, and necessary - but wouldn't (e) provide a blanket excuse to, say, read anyone's or everyone's e-mails?

Ditto safety, in which (f) could play out in... unpredictable ways - especially under the coming #OnlineHarms regime.

#BewareWhatYouWishFor!

Not sure (g) does anything at all - though it clearly intends to give that impression. You'll still be #processing #PersonalData, so people's DP rights should apply.

I suspect the real intent here is more to do with "#CompatibleUses", which hasn't played out so well for #GPdata!

(h) is *exactly* the clause @Google got into its #ProjectNightingale contract with @Ascensionorg:

businesswire.com/news/home/2019…

i.e. 'Now all your #patients' data is flowing through our systems, let us use it to i̶m̶p̶r̶o̶v̶e̶ train our #AIs - and then charge you even more!'

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

And finally (i), which again seems like an existing #LawfulObligation - unless @DCMS has never heard of (or doesn't understand) #DataMinimisation?

All in all, the list reveals more about who Government's been listening to and how poorly it grasps existing law than anything else.

This [Thread] by @ds_m4riano doesn't so much 'scratch the surface' of the Government's plans as gut them with a fillet knife!

https://twitter.com/ds_m4riano/status/1436307592666624010

And here's the blog post that goes with it:

openrightsgroup.org/blog/why-on-ea…

When the @FT calls Government's so-called 'business-friendly' #data proposals "#foolhardy", its recent data initiatives "#lamentable" and an "#assault on rights", and its policies even more #extreme than China's, then you know you're in trouble...

https://twitter.com/owenboswarva/status/143709376555923865

Excellent [Thread] by @owenboswarva:

https://twitter.com/owenboswarva/status/1437116916787777544

...with whose assessment I also agree, on @DCMS having put in some self-evidently batshit suggestions to "draw fire".

I might be more convinced by mention of "Privacy Management Program(mes)" if the Government...

...showed any sign of #accountability itself & wasn't so obviously hell-bent on tearing up #governance across the board (cf. 'extract once, use many times').

Entirely as predicted, its 'bonfire of the #regulations' looks more like the systematic dismantling of citizens' #rights.

N.B. "#PrivacyManagement Program(me)s" aren't a daft idea:

priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-top…

...especially if you don't have a GENERAL #DataProtection Law that covers *all* data processing. Canada's #PIPEDA covers mostly private sector #commercial activities, not all #federal entities...

...which might go some way towards explaining why the UK Government seems so attracted to the notion.

Worth noting #PIPEDA's replacement, #DCIA/#CPPA, is still predominantly focused on #PrivateSector data use:

ic.gc.ca/eic/site/062.n…

A carefully #balanced view from @Pinsent_Masons, who spotted the Government's interest in #DataTrusts - in particular "what predefined criteria would have to be met to #remove the need for recourse to #consent"(!):

pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/u…

One the one hand... and on the other:

And a healthy dose of #scepticism from a man who knows his onions, on 'building #trustworthy AI systems':

[Thread]

https://twitter.com/RDBinns/status/1436312846753804308

Gotta wonder if @ICOnews's 'contribution' will continue to favour '#innovation' over people's #rights and effective #enforcement:

https://twitter.com/ICOnews/status/1436249026631016448

Or if it'll be as forthright as @NDGoffice has been about @NHSX's recent 'data strategy':

gov.uk/government/pub…

Oops! @DCMS should've chosen its examples more carefully, if it didn't want to give the game away:

techcrunch.com/2021/09/09/uk-…

While the @Moorfields research is admirable, mentioning @Google @DeepMind and the #NHS will more likely remind people of the illegal @RoyalFreeNHS deal 🤦🏻‍♂️

N.B. For those who believe doing #ethical #scientific #research without people's #knowledge and #permission is *ever* OK, a #Tuskegee [Thread]:

https://twitter.com/WhoresofYore/status/1268898017903546368

(The impacts of this are playing out, even to this day...)

Here's a more recent example of what @DCMS's '#DataReforms'
as proposed would define as an automatically "#CompatiblePurpose" for "#ScientificResearch", requiring no "#BalancingTest":

https://twitter.com/CharlesRollet1/status/1437425062101929993

and that's even before they get lost in the thicket of #AI #fairness!

Excellent breakdown by @RobertJBateman of the 74 - count 'em! - #DataProtection "#reforms" the Government is proposing:

https://twitter.com/RobertJBateman/status/1437460878404825093

(And yes, 38 is a doozy!)

Another couple of initial reactions, first from @alex_mizzi of @hk_employment:

employment.howardkennedy.com/post/102h6g6/d…

and a helpful summary from @DLA_Piper:

blogs.dlapiper.com/privacymatters…

"UK GDPR 2.0"...

https://twitter.com/IbrahimH_Lawyer/status/1438994926130262016