The UK will replace the 1988 Data Protection Act with legislation that mirrors the European Union’s (EU’s) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), digital secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed.
“We will be bringing legislation forward in the next [parliamentary] session to put that into practice,” he told the House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee.
Answering questions on UK data protection after Brexit, Hancock said to ensure the UK can negotiate an uninterrupted and unhindered flow of data with the EU is to put the GDPR into UK law.
“In a sense, we are matching them rather than asking them to match anything new from the UK,” he said.
Hancock repeatedly emphasised that unhindered data flows between the UK and EU – including law enforcement and medical research data – is a key goal that the UK government will pursue in the Brexit negotiation process.
He said the GDPR would be implemented in full because it is a “decent piece of legislation” due to “significant” UK negotiating successes during its development and because it will help ensure the UK is starting from a position of “harmonisation” rather than a position of difference in Brexit negotiations.
“The reason there are so many questions around data protection is that the EU is moving its own domestic law at the same time as we will be going through the Article 50 process. We have got to make sure that we look at the whole [of the data protection and privacy changes taking place],” he said.
Hancock noted that the GDPR introduces obligations for data controllers and processors in several areas, that it strengthens the rules for obtaining consent and for breach notification, and that it emphasises self-assessment in the management of data.
He said he was confident that strategy of implementing the GDPR fully would ensure the UK achieves its goal of free data flows with the EU post-Brexit in an appropriate data protection environment, but declined to give any other details of what other arrangements the UK might seek to put in place.
“We have got to go through a negotiating process and, as the prime minister put it, we are not going to give a running commentary on that,” he said.
However, Hancock noted that the UK not only has to consider its future position regarding data exchanges with the EU, but also with other jurisdictions that have “high-quality data protection regimes”, such as the US.
Post-Brexit, he said the UK will need a set of global relationships, and the UK government will be able to decide what changes to make domestically given everybody else’s position.
“If we need to respond to changes, we will be able to, as opposed to be being dictated to by the European system [of data protection],” he said.
He later added that the UK government is considering all the options regarding the most beneficial way of ensuring that UK data protection regime supports UK business in the global economy.
Hancock said his department was “fully resourced” to deliver GDPR compliance inside government, while outside government GDPR compliance will bring some requirements on companies, which is a good thing considering the increasing importance of data in business activities.
“The requirements are consistent with best practice for handling data, so companies that handle data appropriately, have good cyber security arrangements and respect the privacy of those whose data they hold should not find this much of a burden, but it will require some companies that do not have best practice to come up to speed,” he said.
Commenting on the role of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Hancock said it had changed a lot in the past 20 years and would undoubtedly continue to evolve in the future.
“The ICO has been a world leader in ensuring the rules and the framework around data are kept up to speed and I am sure it will continue to do so,” he said.

© Source: http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450412141/UK-legislation-will-mirror-EUs-GDPR-says-Matt-Hancock
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The European Union (EU) has moved a step closer to the long-awaited abolition of mobile roaming charges across the 28 member states after representatives of the European Parliament, Council and Commission set the prices that mobile network operators (MNOs) can charge one another when their customers roam onto foreign networks.
From 15 June 2017, the wholesale roaming rates will be capped at 3.2 cents (2.7p) per minute of voice call and 1 cent per SMS. Meanwhile, data roaming rates will reduce progressively from €7.70 per gigabyte (GB) in June 2017, to €2.5 per GB from 1 January 2022.
“This was the last piece of the puzzle. As of 15 June, Europeans will be able to travel in the EU without roaming charges. We have also made sure that operators can continue competing to provide the most attractive offers to their home markets,” said Digital Single Market vice-president Andrus Ansip.
“Today we deliver on our promise. I warmly thank the European Parliament rapporteur Miapetra Kumpula-Natri and all the negotiators from the European Parliament, as well as the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU and all those involved in achieving this milestone. Their efforts made it happen.”
Under the “roam-like-home” regulations, the changes mean EU citizens will be able to call, send texts or use the internet for the same price that they pay at home, whenever they are travelling in the EU.
Should they go above their contracted limits while abroad, any additional charges will not be higher than what they would be charged if they exceeded their limits at home.
The European Commission (EC) said it would review whether or not the wholesale market was working by the end of 2019, and provide an interim assessment in December 2018.
The cost of roaming has been dropping steadily over the past decade as a result of the EC’s work to bring down the – often borderline extortionate – cost of roaming for travelers in the EU. Currently consumers can be charged 5 cents per minute of voice, 2 cents per SMS, and 5 cents per MB of data, on top of any applicable national rates.
The agreement will now be formally approved by the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, and MNOs will soon start taking preparatory steps for the introduction of “roam-like-home” in June.
Although the regulations will come into force in the UK at the same time as the other 27 member states, it is not yet known whether or not UK mobile users will be still be covered by the agreement after the country exits the EU .
This is currently anticipated to happen in the spring of 2017, subject to the two-year Brexit negotiations that will take place after prime minister Theresa May invokes the Article 50 clause of the Treaty of European Union.
A number of MNOs, notably Three, currently offer tariff-free roaming for UK customers in some, but not all, EU countries. …

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When Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong launched the country’s cyber security strategy in October 2016, it marked a new chapter in the cyber security readiness roadmap of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Lee said Singapore’s cyber security strategy comprised of four pillars: building a resilient infrastructure, creating a safer cyber space, developing a vibrant cyber security ecosystem and strengthening international partnerships.
The developing a vibrant cyber security ecosystem pillar envisages developing companies and nurturing local startups. It also encourages fostering of closer partnerships between academia and industry to harness cyber security research and development (R&D).
It was in this context that BAE Systems – a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company with headquarters in London – announced the signing of a memorandum of collaboration (MOC) with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA). This is to develop national capabilities through collaboration in capabilities-building and incident response.
The CSA was established in 2016 to combat cyber threats against Singapore. It is the national body overseeing cyber security strategy, education and outreach, and industry development. It is part of the Prime Minister’s Office and is managed by the Ministry of Communications and Information.
BAE Systems is among the world’s largest defence contractors and has global operations. In Southeast Asia, it has offices in Singapore and Malaysia.
“BAE Systems recognises the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors in promoting cyber awareness using threat intelligence, boosting Singapore’s ecosystem to uplift homegrown cyber skills, and in opening up cross-industry collaboration with local companies,” said Boye Vanell, BAE Systems regional director ofAsia .
Glen Francis, president at CIO Academy Asia, Singapore, said: “It’s great that Singapore is partnering with established global organisation to strengthen the robustness of our technical capabilities. We can only be safer if industries and government collaborate globally. It is a warfare that cannot be fought alone.”
According to BAE Systems, alongside CSA, it explore ways to take security steps in three key areas: grow the cyber ecosystem to create job opportunities and improve skills for Singaporeans; increase capabilities and technologies for the Smart Nation; and ensure protection of the citizens.
BAE Systems will create job opportunities and improve skills for Singaporeans through partnerships forged with local organisations to engage in joint R&D to develop cyber technologies unique to the Singaporean landscape.
It will also support industry incubator and accelerator programs for cyber security startups, and has pledged continuous contribution to national manpower, development and education frameworks on cyber security.
The collaboration to enhance capabilities and technologies for the Smart Nation project will include efforts in areas such as critical information infrastructure (CII), the internet of things (IoT) and national operational capabilities.
The third area of collaboration, protection of the people, will see BAE Systems help create a framework for national incidence response and supporting the growth of the Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team (SingCert) to best serve citizens.
The SingCert is the national security incident response that disseminates timely information and alerts on the latest violation security issues to the general public.
“BAE systems is definitely a good choice for the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore to partner with,” said Cathy Huang, senior research manager at IDC’s Asia-Pacific cloud and services research group.
“It will enhance the ecosystem that CSA is building. Other than the enterprise offerings which are common to other security technology and services providers, BAE systems is specialised in industrialised security, particular for industries such as aviation and military. Such collaboration means a potential uplift on the security standards in Singapore and the region.”

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Mobile network operator (MNO) O2 has become the first mobile company in the UK to offer a car insurance product with the launch of O2 Drive , a service that uses the internet of things (IoT) technology to encourage responsible driving.
Built with assistance from Junction, the brand partnership arm of Peterborough-based insurance services provider BGL Group, the O2 Drive product will include an optional telematics proposition, called Box on Board, to monitor any driver behaviour that may positively or negatively affect premiums.
Drivers who choose to take the Box on Board product, which is fitted alongside their car battery, will get an up-front discount on their premium – O2 mobile customers will also get a discount – and give access to driving data and scores via an accompanying mobile app, along with tips to improve safer driving.
The app will also offer information on emergency breakdown assistance, policy details, advice on what to do and say in the event of an accident, and perks such as discounted repairs, MOTs and servicing, as well as access to the O2 Priority event ticketing service.
O2 said the service was pitched at young drivers between the ages of 17 and 24, who traditionally have been subject to higher insurance costs as they are at higher risk of crashing.
“Despite the rapid evolution of technology, the way we insure and service our cars has remained largely unchanged, with customers telling us that buying insurance is impersonal and confusing. We are on a mission to make customers’ lives easier through mobile, which is why we created O2 Drive,” said O2 director of digital, David Plumb.
“Based on the excellent feedback we’ve had so far for O2 Drive, the Box on Board proposition was created to further simplify the challenges of owning and driving a car safely. It unites our customer experience with our expertise in mobile to create a more personalised service, insuring people for who they are and rewarding them as they drive,” he said.
“The customer is at the core of all of the products that we launch, including O2 Drive and O2 Drive – Box on Board,” said Junction MD Gary Duggan. “ We will reward their loyalty to O2 with offers and services, and address the needs of individual customers, offering them an unprecedented level of service.”
The use of telematics, and by inference the IoT, in the vehicle insurance sector is rapidly gaining momentum since it enables insurers to run their processes more easily and efficiently in the event of a claim, and in theory to pass savings on to drivers.
Writing in Computer Weekly last year , Jonathan Hewett of Octo Telematics said that whereas insurers before had to price their policies on proxies and assumptions about drivers, regardless of their actual behaviour on the roads, the use of telematics now gave them additional insight into various factors, such as aggressive acceleration or braking, that indicate a propensity to bad driving.
Octo uses Software AG technology and its own analytics algorithms in its ‘black box’ technology to provide individualised risk assessment and crash analytics to over four million active drivers around the world. So far, it claims to have logged 100 billion miles of data on driving and analysed 250,000 crashes.
Elsewhere, satellite connectivity provider Viasat recently teamed up with Orange Business Services to build an IoT roaming network covering telematics solutions deployed in up to 350,000 vehicles.

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