Although the jury is out on whether, or when, the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI Bill) gets passed, all lawyers and practitioners should be preparing themselves for the eventuality. The Government’s “Keeling Schedules” will help keep track of the changes the Bill would make to existing laws.
In 1938, Sir Edward Herbert Keeling complained in Parliament about the difficulties of understanding the impact of draft laws which would have the effect of amending existing laws. In response, the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced that, in appropriate cases,
“a Bill amending or applying an existing enactment by reference should contain a Schedule setting out the enactment as it will read when amended by the Bill and showing by typographical devices the Amendments proposed”.
These are what came to be known as “Keeling Schedules”, and when they are made publicly available, they can an invaluable reference tool to understand potential legislative changes.
The Government published Keeling Schedules in May 2023 on an earlier iteration of the DPDI Bill, but has since published updated versions.
They illustrate how, respectively, the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) 2003 would be affected by the DPDI Bill.
It’s important to note, of course, that until the DPDI Bill gets enacted, none of these changes will happen, and also that the Bill will almost inevitably emerge from the current committee stage in the House of Lords with further adjustments . It is an ever-changing situation, but at Mishcon de Reya we will aim to continue to provide updates.