Government extends privacy protection to bequests made to the Conservative Party

Late on Good Friday (a very good time to bury “bad” news), the Government quietly tabled an amendment to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill  (DPDI Bill) which extends the definition of personal data to include bequests and comments, made by a deceased, in his or her will.  The ICO has welcomed this amendment as a positive change to the law.

Although the amendment makes a somewhat quirky change to the Wills Act 1837,  an impeccable sauce has indicated that its main motive is to protect the privacy of bequests of large financial donations to the ruling Conservative Party.

Because the amendment is to a later Schedule of the Bill, it is expected to be debated towards the end of Committee stage in late April.

Amendment to Wills Act 1837

In further detail,  the unassuming amendment reads as follows:

At Schedule 12, page 270, line 8, insert new paragraph 29  (into the DPDI Bill)

29        WILLS ACT 1837

Insert into section 1 of the Wills Act, after the words “section 8 of the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013…”, the following:

All personal information contained in a will shall be treated as if it were personal data (as defined in Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018) except when applied to the rights granted to data subjects as specified in Articles 12 to 22 of the UK_GDPR.

Following the amendment, there is a brief explanation of the impact of the change in the law.  This reads:

Minister’s explanatory statement

This amendment protects personal statements and bequests made by a deceased person in a will.  It ensures the deceased, when drafting a will, can be assured of the confidentiality of any bequest, after death.  The amendment also clarifies the law so that the recently deceased cannot exercise their data subject rights under the UK_GDPR.

Speaking on the new GBNews, Sunday breakfast, talk-show (“In The Pub with Lee Anderson MP”),  ex-GBnews presenter Esther McVey MP,  known by the tabloid press as the Minister for Common Sense, expanded on the amendment. She said:

“The amendment is a total realisation of the benefits of Brexit.  The UK is seizing back control of its laws by extending privacy protection to the wills of the newly departed.  The deceased will sleep more serenely in Heaven, secure in the knowledge that their privacy is maintained on Earth, from the moment they leave”.

Lee Anderson MP added a more practical observation:

“The text of wills can be very controversial, especially if the recently deceased leaves, in a will, a “parting shot” at his or her partner or another member of the family.  Such information is rightly protected from the do-gooders, neigh-sayers and anti-Brexit re-moaners who are jealous that their trivial political pursuits do not attract large financial donations from the dead”.

He added “where I come from, up North, we recognise the dead know a thing or two”.

ICO has also welcomed the clarity of the new amendment.  In a statement on his website, the ICO said:.

“I  heartily support the spirit of this amendment and I assure the British public that I shall enforce the new provision as robustly as I enforce the UK_GDPR and DPA2018 currently”.

“As a New Zealander, I am well attuned to a cultural tradition that embeds immense respect for ancestral history: “Hanga koa i taku gin me te tonic”, he added in Māori.

And finally…

Remember my Petition requesting the Government to implement the EU’s AI Act as part of the DPDI Bill is on that Parliamentary web-site: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/652982.  Please consider signing it and passing it to your colleagues to consider signing.

Details  reasons why you should sign the Petition are on my Hawktalk blog: https://amberhawk.typepad.com/amberhawk/2024/03/petition-calls-for-implementation-the-eu-data-act-to-protect-data-subjects-from-ai-abuse.html

Forthcoming Data Protection Courses

The following BCS Practitioner or Foundation courses can be attended in person, or via Zoom, or as a mixture (i.e. part Zoom, part attendance just in case “stuff happens on the day”).

• All-day Zoom workshop (10.00-4.30)  on the DATA PROTECTION AND DIGITAL INFORMATION BILL held on Thursday 9 May.
• Data Protection PRACTITIONER Course is in London on Monday, 13 May to Friday, 17 May (5 days: 9.30am to 5.30pm).
• Data Protection FOUNDATION Course is in London on (July 2-4: Tuesday to Thursday, 3 days: 9.45am to 5.00pm).
• Remember our new specialist DP qualification for those in Education.

More details on the Amberhawk website: www.amberhawk.com  or email [email protected] (e.g  for. DPDI workshop agenda).

Comments

[Ganesh Sittampalam]

This seems like a huge change to the previous position where wills were automatically made public? (apart from the non-statutory carve out for the Royal Family)