Just before New Year, the pro-Brexit, anti-single market pressure group Change Britain published a report about the possible savings that could accrue to the UK if we cut all ties with the EU. Keen observers of current politics will be astonished to learn that the amount is in the multiple billions. One of the top savings is from repealing the Data Protection Act 1998, which Change Britain claims costs the economy a whopping £1,058,830,000, while (if I am reading the table right), giving a benefit of precisely nothing. It’s a prime example of ‘harmful EU red tape‘ that Change Britain is very much against.

Curiously, the report doesn’t include any mention the General Data Protection Regulation, despite the fact that the Government announced several months before its publication that GDPR will apply in the UK, reflecting the reality that it will come into force before we leave. The report does not hint at any cost in repealing the DPA and replacing it with something else, or the wasted effort currently being expended by organisations large and small in preparing for GDPR, all of which they want to cancel out. The economic benefit of being able to share data across EU borders isn’t priced in at all, even if we accept the £1 billion cost at face value. Inevitably, Change Britain’s report has the mindset of an Oscar Wilde cynic, knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. Although the DPA is clunky and badly enforced, the benefits of saying that personal data should be obtained fairly, used transparently, kept in good order and processed securely are enormous.

 

I emailed Change Britain just before New Year asking the questions outlined below. I would like to express my gratitude to the Change Britain staff member who took the time to give me two courteous replies when many people were probably on holiday or hung-over.

 

 

 

 

In their reply, Change Britain didn’t explain why they hadn’t mentioned GDPR in the first place, but noted that the Coalition Government said in 2013 that the GDPR could ‘impose unnecessary additional costs on current businesses‘, a comment made on a version of the GDPR which is quite different to the one we’re actually getting. The emphasis was on ensuring that “expensive red tape is cut so that the burden on business is reduced“.

 

They didn’t really answer the questions, but the thrust of their preferred approach seemed to come here: “We believe that it is possible to secure a new relationship that allows ongoing data sharing between the UK and the EU and gives UK policy makers an opportunity to deal with the issues they have identified with EU laws and – in so doing – reduce the burden of red tape on British businesses“. They didn’t mention the fact that the current government has announced that the GDPR will apply or what the implications of that might be for their proposal. Crucially, while they clearly wanted to “reduce the burdens”, they did not explain to me what these burdens were.

It seemed to me that Change Britain were describing the Mother of Worst Case Scenarios: repeal of the DPA with a UK only replacement instead of adopting the GDPR, some kind of negotiated deal over EU data sharing with all the fragility that entails in the world of Max Schrems, a situation which could well mean UK businesses with EU customers separately adopting GDPR for their customers. Of course, there are many who think that an adequacy finding for the UK post-Brexit is going to hard to achieve, and so some kind of UK Privacy Shield arrangement (AKA Daragh O Brien‘s Privacy Brolly) is the likely outcome. But I’m not aware of anyone in the DP world who thinks this is a good idea – it’s just what we might end up with.

I emailed them again. I asked whether they were proposing what I thought they were proposing (making it sound as complicated and horrendous as I did just now). I wondered whether they had a list of the specific burdens that they objected to. I also asked if they had an analysis of the costs of reversing the current position on GDPR, given all the time and money that is currently going into preparing for it precisely because the government has said that we should. Finally, I asked whether a Privacy Shield arrangement was should be the aim, given the fiery death of Safe Harbor and the fact that the prognosis for Privacy Shield is somewhat toasty (to paraphrase).

They were kind enough to reply again, but with a striking lack of detail. “Brexit is an opportunity to repeal laws that don’t work and introduce better versions” they told me. They did not dispute my interpretation of what they want, which is astonishing. They are “aware of the legitimate issues that you have raised, however we also believe that the concerns raised about the impact of the EU’s data protection regime on small businesses should also be given equal weight when the Government considers the opportunities that come from Brexit”. They didn’t explain how reversing current government policy and forcing UK businesses to operate at least two different DP systems, no matter how large or small they might be was in the interests of anyone, and especially, how this would save a billion pounds. There is no reason why a small business wouldn’t be one of the enterprises running Change Britain’s UK DP at home, and the GDPR abroad, notwithstanding the *increase* in red tape that their proposal would involve. Change Britain want two laws in place of one, after all.

Despite claiming that Data Protection doesn’t work, Change Britain have not carried out any analysis on the burdens associated with it to underpin their demand that it should be abolished. They have not calculated the cost of abolishing it and replacing it with something else – indeed, I would go as far as to say that they showed no evidence of having thought about it. They could only point me to the previous government’s (now outdated) view of GDPR, and reports produced by the British Chambers of Commerce in 2005 and 2010. It seems to be a case of UK good, EU bad, even as the GDPR is being scrutinised around the world as a model to emulate, or at least react to.

Change Britain’s abolition of the DPA and the abandonment of the GDPR is an economically illiterate idea on a par with Vote Leave’s NHS Bus Promise. It makes no sense except as a sound-bite in a press release designed solely for headlines and incapable of surviving serious analysis. Change Britain’s idea is the opposite of what the Government has told UK businesses to prepare for. It is a recipe for confusion and uncertainty. It is utterly irresponsible.

Whatever you think of Brexit, it has wiped the future clean. Anyone who confidently predicts what the UK will look like in 2020 or 2025 is a fool or a liar. I think it will be a disaster, but other opinions are equally valid. The UK Government’s confirmation that GDPR will apply is a small strand of certainty. Even though the Secretary of State left the door open for change at some stage (which she has every right to do), we know what’s coming next for Data Protection, despite Brexit. In their antipathy towards the EU and all its works, Change Britain want to murder even this tiny certainty. They have no original thoughts on why they think it’s a good idea beyond money-saving that they cannot possibly stand up. They cannot offer any hint of what they want to replace DPA / GDPR with, except that it must be homegrown. It cannot be European in origin. I very much hope that their proposal gets the shortest shrift that the DCMS has in stock.

Make no mistake, compliance with GDPR will be difficult for some, but I suspect that many of the organisations most keen to decry the GDPR would struggle equally to comply with the 1984 Data Protection Act, produced by the Thatcher Government, which even now has parallels with both our current DP Act and the GDPR. The GDPR is clearer, less technical and more understandable than the DPA. It is in most ways an improvement. Change Britain’s proposal is vandalism, and we should wash it away.