The UK’s two main political parties are set to publish their election manifestos this week. Information governance professionals will be keen to find out what the parties’ plans are in relation to the current hot IG topics including data protection reform, AI regulation and data sharing.
The Conservative Party will publish its manifesto on Tuesday. Penny Mordaunt said in a BBC television debate on Friday:
“You have already heard some announcements and you’ll see more in our manifesto next week. We have got to cut people’s taxes and we have got to alleviate burdens on business.”
That’s all fine but what IG professionals will want to know is, will the Government bring back the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill which fell in the House of Lords after not making “wash up”. Could they propose to combine the Bill with AI regulation, having previously opted for a non statutory approach on the latter? We will know better on Tuesday.
The Labour manifesto is due to be published on Thursday. Whilst it is still being finalised, clues about what IG proposals it may contain can be found in the National Policy Forum document which the party says is “set to shape the next Labour manifesto”. It states, amongst other things, that Labour will:
- Ensure our world-class researchers and businesses have the data and computing infrastructure they need to compete internationally
- Harness data for the public good and introduce robust regulation that opens up data while enshrining consumer rights
- Maintain Britain’s data adequacy status meaning our data protection rules are deemed equivalent to those in the EU
- Make it easier for public services to adopt innovative technologies by removing barriers to data-sharing and smart procurement.
- Use new capabilities in data analysis and AI to deliver better public services and improve people’s quality of life, and ensure society is fairly rewarded for the data it generates, built on frameworks and institutions that build public trust and uphold the privacy and security rights of UK citizens, including in the workplace
- Ensure we have cyber resilience and security against rogue states and other hostile actors
- Harness technology for public good, ensuring the UK is the best place in the world for safe and responsible technology, building the world’s most competent regulatory environment for AI and automation and supporting a thriving and effective AI and automation assurance ecosystem
- Ensure that the regulatory environment appropriately and proportionally mitigates the potential harms that AI could cause by taking a principles-based approach to tech and AI
- Explore whether the companies developing the underlying ‘foundation models’ that power specific AI tools and applications should also be subject to regulation
- Act quickly to set the standards for safe and responsible AI
- Ensure that workers have new rights, protections and access to training to keep pace with the changing nature of work and technological advancement
The Liberal Democrats are launching their manifesto today. If you can’t wait till later, their Fair Deal for voters offers some insights on what might be included. We are still waiting for Count Binface to publish his manifesto; we could see a repeat of his London Mayoral Manifesto which promised, amongst other things, to bring back Ceefax to all households within the M25!
This and other data protection developments will be discussed in detail on our forthcoming GDPR Update workshop.
