New data regulations that will reduce cookie pop-ups, crackdown on nuisance calls with bigger fines and contribute £4.7 bn to the UK economy over ten years have been debated in Parliament.

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill sets out the UK’s common-sense led data laws and will give organisations greater flexibility to protect personal data, while maintaining high data protection standards.

The Bill will increase fines for nuisance calls and texts from £500,000 to either £17.5m or up to four per cent of global turnover, whichever is greater, to create tougher punishments for those who pester people with unwanted calls and messages.

The reforms to UK data laws aim to reduce the number of consent pop-ups people see online, which repeatedly ask users to give permission for websites to collect data about their visits.

Before the changes come into effect, the government will work with industry and the Information Commissioner’s Office to ensure technology to help people set their preferences automatically is effective and readily available. This will help web users to retain choice and control over how their data is used.

The regime will seek to ensure data adequacy with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and will modernise the Information Commissioner’s Office through the creation of a statutory board with a chair and chief executive to make sure it remains a world-leading, independent data regulator.

The Bill will make it easier and quicker for people to verify their identity digitally, if they want to, by establishing a framework for the use of trusted and secure digital verification services, and will reduce the number of cookie pop-ups people see online.

Data Minister Julia Lopez told Parliament:

“This Bill will maintain the high standards of data protection that British people rightly expect. But it will also help the people who are using our data to make our lives healthier, safer, and more prosperous. That’s because we’ve co-designed it with those people, to ensure that our regulation reflects the way real people live their lives and run their businesses.”