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Written Question
Data Protection
Tuesday 11th August 2020

Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the data subject rights of UK citizens under the General Data Protection Regulation after the end of the Brexit transition period.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

As with all policy areas, the UK will control our own data protection laws and regulations in line with our interests, after the end of the transition period.

We want our data protection law to remain fit for purpose, and to support the future objectives of the UK. The UK will continue to operate a high-quality regime that promotes high data protection standards, growth and innovation, and underpins the trustworthy use of data as the UK economy becomes increasingly digital and data-enabled.


Written Question
Cybercrime
Thursday 17th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to promote UK–EU cooperation on cybersecurity after the UK leaves the EU, including compliance with the proposed establishment of European cybersecurity certification schemes.

Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde

We remain committed to working with our European and International partners to help shape cyber security measures, which is in the interests of our wider collective security. This is clearly outlined in the 'Political Declaration', which sets out a vision for close relationship in cyber security, including through participation of certain activities of ENISA, the EU Cybersecurity Agency and the NIS Cooperation Group. The EU 'Cybersecurity Act', which sets out a framework for the development of EU wide cyber security certification schemes reached political agreement in December and we will be working with the EU to consider the future implications for this legislation as part of this close relationship. The UK will continue to apply international cyber security standards, which the EU 'Cybersecurity Act' promotes the use of, because these are in the interests of better cyber security and are important to avoid market fragmentation globally.


Written Question
Cybercrime
Thursday 17th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they plan to include in their forthcoming Online Harms white paper to mitigate against the risks of new types of harms such as (1) stolen data, (2) invasion of privacy and (3) interdependence of cyber and physical risks that could arise from increased use of Internet of Things technologies.

Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde

The Online Harms White Paper will set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures to tackle a range of online harms. The Government takes both the protection of personal data and the right to privacy extremely seriously.

The Data Protection Act 2018 makes our data protection laws fit for the digital age and empowers people to take control of their data. The Government has recently published a Code of Practice for Consumer Internet of Things Security, which outlines thirteen guidelines that manufacturers should follow to keep consumers safe. DCMS will be working to drive implementation of this Code throughout 2019.

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport held a round table, to which Peers were invited, on 15th January 2019 to seek views on the scope of the forthcoming White Paper.


Written Question
Telecommunications: Competition
Monday 16th April 2018

Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of problems switching fixed telephony provider on the competitiveness of the fixed voice market in the UK.

Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde

Ofcom, the independent communications regulator, have recently reviewed the voice only (fixed telephony) market. They found that there are some competitiveness issues in this market which have arisen due to a large majority of consumers moving to voice and broadband packages, and as a result major communications providers withdrawing from the voice only market,limiting consumer choice. Ofcom found that the consumers remaining in the voice only market are largely unengaged, with average contracts lasting over 20 years and is therefore working with the largest provider of voice only services (BT), to explore how communications with these consumers could improve their engagement.

Switching issues within the voice only business market mainly relate to the process of porting numbers, which is the ability to retain telephone numbers as you move to a new communications provider. The Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator is independent from Ofcom and industry, and is leading discussions on how to improve porting arrangements. Further details about its role can be viewed at: http://www.offta.org.uk.


Written Question
Business: Telecommunications
Monday 16th April 2018

Asked by: Lord Fox (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average time taken for businesses with more than one telephone line to switch provider; and how this compares to the time taken for domestic customers to switch providers.

Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde

In 2015, the UK’s independent communications regulator (Ofcom), extended the use of a Gaining Provider Led (GPL) switching process for consumers (including small businesses with up to ten employees) switching their landline and/or broadband provider across the Openreach network, where the majority of these switches take place. These rules specify a minimum switching period of 10 working days, before a customer’s order can be activated.

Ofcom does not hold comparable data on the time it takes business and domestic customers to switch.