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The new provisions inserted into Section 82 of the DPA 2018 allow the Home Secretary to formally designate law enforcement agencies as processors under Part 4 (intelligence services) in joint operations with MI5, MI6, or GCHQ. This means that Part 4 now applies not only to intelligence services, but also to “qualifying competent authorities” (e.g. police forces, NCA).

The ICO has fined Scottish charity Birthlink £18,000 for the destruction of approximately 4,800 personal records, some of which were irreplaceable. These weren’t just files. They were handwritten letters, photographs, and birth certificates; fragments of identity, belonging, and memory. The loss was not just operational, it was deeply human.

The changes made under the Data (Use and Access) Act (DUAA) 2025 signal a seismic shift in the way law enforcement agencies must think about information governance. From HR departments to intelligence units, automated decision-making (ADM) now sits at the heart of legal compliance and ethical risk. The amends made by DUAA 2025 allow you to use people’s personal information to make significant automated decisions about them in more circumstances, so long as you continue to a

The new s78A, introduced by s88 of the Data (Use and Access) Act (DUAA) 2025 (1), significantly expands the national security exemption under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 (2), which governs law enforcement processing. Here’s a breakdown of what’s changed and what it means for competent authorities.

The Data (Use and Access) Act (DUAA) 2025 introduces critical updates to Subject Access Requests (SARs), specifically for competent authorities operating under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018. The changes now enable competent authorities to take longer to respond to requests to access personal information, if you need extra time because of the complexity or number of requests that someone has made. It also makes it clear that you only need to make reasonable sear

The Data (Use and Access) Act (DUAA) 2025 has officially amended the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018, introducing Section 71A: Codes of Conduct - a provision that could reshape how law enforcement agencies approach data protection compliance. While we await formal guidance from the Information Commissioner, now is the time to unpack what this means, speculate on its impact, and draw parallels with the legal sector’s already-established codes of conduct.

Since the introduction of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act (DPA) in 2018, law enforcement agencies have made strides in improving their approach to consent. Yet public trust remains fragile, in no small part due to some relatively recent security incidents involving law enforcement information. The latest legal update - Section 69 of the Data (Use and Access) Act (DUAA) 2025 - reshapes the understanding of consent within law enforcement.

In an era where public trust hinges on transparency and responsibility, organisations face a growing challenge: how to protect personal data while making it count for something greater than operational integrity. At a recent session in York, led by Enterprise Works (University of York), we explored how data protection consultancy work, done with purpose, can become a driver for social value, community impact, and ethical leadership. Here’s how theory and practice meet to sha

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA 2025) has officially landed, bringing with it a series of targeted amendments to the UK’s data protection framework. While the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) remain the bedrock of UK data protection legislation, the DUAA 2025 introduces some meaningful updates, particularly around the use of cookies and similar track

Top tips for handling data protection complaints as introduced by Data (Use and Access) Act 2025