Reform UK Data Protection Law may lead to discrimination

Robin Allen QC

Dee Masters

Dee Masters and Robin Allen QC analyse the impact of proposed reforms to Data Protection law on discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The Legal Education Foundation reports their findings and recommendations to refine the existing data protection linked to the government proposals. These include:

1. Expressly stating in any new data protection legislative framework that processing which leads to discrimination is unlawful;

2. Removing the erroneous conflation of “outcome fairness” with equality which is outlined within “Data: a new direction” (Chapter 1.5, para 69);

3. Ensuring that comprehensive statutory guidance is created which explains the ways in which discrimination through data processing can occur;

4. Making it plain that organisations can legitimately process data in order to check for discrimination, that they must do so and make the results public;

5. Ensuring that meaningful, personalised information is provided to individuals where their personal data is processed in order to make decisions about them; and

6. Providing the resources to ensure that the judiciary is ready and able to address discrimination complaints linked to discriminatory data processing.

Read their full report here.