On 7 October 2021, the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), published its response to the UK government’s consultation entitled “Data: A new direction”. The consultation which sets out the proposals of the Department for Digital, Culture Media & Sport (“DCMS”) promised far-reaching reforms to the UK data protection regime with an emphasis on capturing the power of data to drive economic growth and innovation. The DCMS’s proposals posed a significant moment for UK data protection law and as such Sidley was pleased to host a Chatham House Rule discussion about this important consultation on 15 September 2021 with Joe Jones, Deputy Director, International Data Transfers at the DCMS. We hope that interested readers may have attended our discussion with Deputy Director Jones. (more…)