Draft Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2018 General Committees

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

I very much welcome the draft regulations. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on financial technology, I am conscious that huge demands will be placed on the ICO, which has always struck me as being pretty under-resourced, as has probably been evidenced by the Cambridge Analytica situation. I wonder if the ICO actually has the resources to go ahead and conduct a full investigation into that, so I very much welcome the increasing budget.

Given the new data protection laws, given that Brexit—if we are trying to stay at the forefront of financial technology and alternative finance—may require further work by the ICO and given that the Open Banking Implementation Entity has now come out with new standards for data portability, an enormous amount will be required of the ICO over the next two to three years, particularly as it adjusts. This uplift is necessary to fulfil its obligations.

My hon. Friend the Minister presented the draft regulations very well indeed, but I have a couple of quick questions. Will she enlighten us on how the £30 million figure has been calculated as the amount necessary for the ICO to fulfil its obligations? I emphasise that it seems particularly low, given the demands and potential demands on the ICO over the next 24 months.

I welcome the three-tier system; it is quite right that single users or very small companies pay a lower figure. I hope that, at some point in the future, we will look at the third tier, because that again seems quite low. If we consider the impact of one investigation with one of these larger firms, I can pretty much see the entire ICO budget going on one large organisation. Again, I would like to see that addressed in the future.

I very much welcome the exemptions. When it comes to the IPSA money, we have all had pain and scars. It is rather a circular motion, but I agree with the hon. Member for North Durham that, if the bill for Members or peers is £40, with IPSA it will probably end up being £80, given the bureaucratic costs involved. That may be worth looking at. Overall, I very much welcome the changes, but I would like a little more insight into where the £30 million figure comes from.