Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Conclusion 10
Tenth Report - Connected tech: smart or sinister?
Published 7 Aug 2023
Paragraph 78
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Connected tech: smart or sinister? All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We agree that reforming the governance and accountability structures of the Information Commissioner’s Office will be a positive step. We have previously recommended against executive overreach in the case of Ofcom and the Online Safety Bill; these concerns apply with respect to the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill. Powers to veto codes of practice and to set strategic priorities without parliamentary oversight should not be adopted.
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Tenth Report - Connected tech: smart or sinister? (HC 157), paragraph 78, 7 August 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 24 November 2023.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "partially accept[s] the majority" of the Committee's conclusions and recommendations, and where it has not accepted them it points to existing or planned actions.
- On the Age-Appropriate Design Code, it agrees, stating it "will ensure" forthcoming data protection reforms "do not undermine any aspect" of the code, with the ICO to update guidance once the Bill receives Royal Assent.
- On data protection reform and ICO governance, it does not agree, saying reforms are "compatible with maintaining free flow of personal data from Europe" and that the Statement of Strategic Priorities will be subject to parliamentary oversight.
- On privacy interfaces, it partially accepts, does not agree with being "overly prescriptive", and will engage interest groups "in the months ahead" on simpler and more granular cookie choices.
- On product security, it partially accepts, saying there is no current evidence it would be proportionate to mandate requirements beyond the initial three, but it "will not hesitate" to mandate more "if necessary".