DMA calls for urgent passage of DPDI before election

The DMA has today called on the government and opposition parties to join together to pass the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill before the election.

The government must make passing DPDI its number one priority in the next few days. After three years of consultation many aspects of the Bill have support across the political spectrum. We urge the government to make the necessary compromises on controversial issues to ensure the Bill passes before the election. “

Critical clauses on legitimate interests, scientific and medical research, and reducing administrative burdens on business are essential to harnessing the opportunities of the data driven economy and improving productivity.

The DMA has collaborated closed with the government for three years on DPDI, which updates GDPR, PECR and Data Protection Act 2018. Key reforms in the legislation are essential to correct issues that have reduced growth or created annoying experiences for customers, such as cookie pop-up banners. It is essential for the industry that the Bill passes before the election.

Combemale says: “Attracting and retaining customers and donors is a fundamental legitimate interest of businesses and charities. The clarity provided in DPDI is urgently needed to ensure the economic recovery continues.”

Critically for charities, the bill amends PECR to extend the soft opt-in for email to non-commercial organisations, which will enable charities to communicate with existing donors and volunteers more easily and on the same basis as commercial organisations.

DPDI is your chance to grow post-COVID. For too long, organisations have struggled with the lack of clarity in GDPR terminology and missed out on business growth opportunities as a result. Now, is your chance to take control of your data and have smarter conversations with your customers.

Key outcomes of DPDI passing:

1. Reduce Admin
The DPDI Bill will reduce the amount of paperwork that organisations and their marketers need to complete to demonstrate compliance in several areas, especially beneficial to smaller organisations. Business will be exempt from onerous paperwork if they are not undertaking any high-risk data processing.

2. Cookie Consent
There are an expanded range of exemptions to consent for cookies, which will reduce consent banners, especially for ecommerce and charity websites, that do not take advertising. This will improve the customer experience by reducing the number of consent banners while also reducing unnecessary red tape for legitimate website functionality.

3. Clarity for what constitutes Legitimate Interest
One of the most significant reforms is the greater clarity offered on what constitutes a legitimate interest, which will encourage more businesses to use it as a lawful basis for data processing where appropriate. Many businesses have not been confident they could rely on legitimate interests as the main legal basis for processing data for direct marketing – thereby reducing opportunities to attract new customers and to know their existing customers better.

4. Soft opt-in
Extension of the soft opt in to marketing sent via “electronic mail” by not-for-profits. In a nutshell, this means that once the Bill will enable charities and other non-commercial organisations to send marketing emails and texts to supporters without consent.

The Data Protection Bill should act as a catalyst for innovation and growth, while maintaining robust privacy protections across the UK — an essential balance which will build consumer trust in the digital economy. In addition, the fines for rogue cold callers will be increased in PECR to £17.5 million from £500,000 or 4% of global turnover in line with fines in GDPR.