Committee Chair welcomes GDPR coming into force

• Learn more about the Committee's work on data protection: Fake news inquiry
• Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Chair's comment

Damian Collins MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

"Our Committee has been extremely concerned about the vulnerability and misuse of our personal data, which has been recently brought into sharp focus by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which we continue to investigate.

The evidence brought before the Committee on the use of data to micro-target and  inundate citizens with divisive messages, misinformation and fake news (particularly during political campaigns) means that the need for more robust legislation such as measures contained in the GDPR has never been greater. That is why we welcome the commencement of GDPR, which brings users a much needed safety net.

Although Mark Zuckerberg pledged to MEPs this week that Facebook would be GDPR compliant, it still concerns me that Facebook has not provided a clear answer on why it recently decided to shift the data controller of 1.5 billion non-EU international users from its Ireland offices to the US, where GDPR rules do not apply.

In the UK, we need a sufficiently powerful data watchdog to help us enforce the new GDPR rules. That's why the Committee have been calling to give the Information Commissioner a strengthened role, including the power to take swift action and to look behind the curtain at how companies are using our data. I'm pleased to see that this has now been confirmed in the new UK Data Protection Bill coming into force."

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

Image: Parliamentary copyright