The Commission, the Council, and the Parliament of the European Union have reached agreement on new data protection rules that will be put in place across the EU, and which will replace the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998. The aspect impacting most on employment will be the General Data Protection Regulation which will enable people to better control their personal data. This includes easier access to personal data, a right to data portability, a “right to be forgotten” when an individual no longer wants his or her data to be processed and the right to know when data has been hacked. The UK Information Commissioner has confirmed that the final shape of the new rules will be clear early this year and there will then be a two-year transition period, “during which we will all have to accustom ourselves to a different way of doing things.”

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