U.K. moves forward with GDPR reform bill

The U.K. government formally introduced a bill to reform the country’s data privacy laws in a manner projected to save British businesses “billions.”

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill was put forward by Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan on Wednesday. The bill, originally announced in June, seeks to reduce what the United Kingdom believes to be unnecessary burdens on businesses under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Changes under the bill would include scaling back processing record requirements, reducing the amount of cookie banners, and simplifying the legal requirements around obtaining consent over the use of personal data to carry out medical and scientific research. Companies’ use of automated decision-making technologies like artificial intelligence would be encouraged through greater clarity around safeguards for consumers.