Citizens Advice’s response to DCMS’ public consultation on reforms to the UK’s data protection regime
Citizens Advice welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation. We areprimarily responding in our capacity as the statutory consumer advocate for GBenergy consumers, although some of our comments apply more generally. In thisrole we have conducted numerous pieces of research on people’s attitudestowards sharing their data. Data and digitisation, including consumer data, will becentral to the transition towards a net zero energy system. It is therefore essentialthat people feel confident that their data is secure, that it isn’t being misused, andthat they can share in the value that it creates.
We recognise that the government is keen to transform its data protectionframework, in order to promote a ‘pro-growth’ and innovation friendly regime. Weunderstand that the current regime, in particular GDPR, is perceived by manyorganisations to be complicated and ambiguous. It can also be costly to ensurecompliance with. Importantly, we also know that consumer data rights are oftenpoorly understood, and that people can struggle to engage with them. As such,we are in principle, supportive of reforms which simplify the current regime whileimproving consumer confidence and engagement. However, it is essential thatany reforms aimed at simplifying GDPR do not come at the expense of consumertrust and confidence.