New Data Protection Rules On Their Way

The European Commission has announced that agreement has now been reached on a new set of Data Protection rules to apply across the whole of the EU.

These are likely to have a significant impact on the insurance sector.

Some of the new proposals include:

• Stricture; more comprehensive privacy notices will be required.
• Changes to the current eight Principles.
• A higher burden for obtaining consent.
• Restrictions on using data for profiling, particularly for marketing.
• New rights of data erasure.
• Shorter time scales for dealing with Subject Access Requests.
• The banning of fees for such requests.
• Stricture rules on accountability.
• The requirement for a Privacy Impact Assessment in a number of circumstances.
• Potential need to appoint a Data Protection Officer.
• Mandatory data breach reporting.
• Increased security measures.
• Significant increases in fines and penalties.
• Increased rights for compensation.

Once these new proposals have been adopted by the EU Parliament and Council, which should be during quarter one of 2016, they will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and then there will be a period of up to two years to transpose these into national law, so we will see a new Data Protection Act to replace the DPA 1998.

For further details click here.