Tougher punishments to stamp out nuisance phone calls will be detailed tomorrow as part of a package of measures intended to boost the economy by more than £4billion.
The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill will increase the maximum fines for nuisance calls and texts from £500,000 to either £17.5million or up to four percent of a company’s global turnover – whichever is greater.
The post-Brexit shake-up of rules to protect people’s personal information will also make it simpler to surf the internet by reducing the number of times pop-up windows appear asking for consent for “cookies”.
It is hoped the new rules will result in a benefit to the economy of £4.7billion over 10 years. They will be debated in Parliament tomorrow.
Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, wants to make use of Brexit freedoms to create a “truly British data protection regime” that takes a “common-sense approach”, rather than being bound by Europe’s GDPR system.
A key goal is slashing the red tape burden on small businesses so they do not face the same requirements as major tech companies. She hopes the NHS and other public services will benefit, as specialists focus on research into conditions such as cancer and heart disease “rather than spending time and money filling out paperwork”.
The huge increase in the maximum fine for nuisance calls is being introduced because she believes that the present penalty is “not enough to deter serious criminals”.
In a bid to reduce annoying cookie pop-ups, people will be able to “set their preferences automatically” and “retain choice and control over how their data is used”. The changes will also make it “easier and quicker for people to verify their identity digitally”.
Data Minister Julia Lopez will tell MPs: “This Bill will maintain the high standards of data protection that British people rightly expect.”
“But it will also help the people who are using our data to make our lives healthier, safer and more prosperous.”
