Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201-: Lodging

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A decision made on 30 November 2017:

Decision Reference: MD-C-2017-0147

Decision Summary Title: :	Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201-		Date of Decision Summary:	30th November 2017
Decision Summary Author:	Director of Digital and Telecoms Policy		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title: :	Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201-		Date of Written Report:	30th November 2017
Written Report Author:	Director of Digital and Telecoms Policy		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201-
Decision(s): The Assistant Chief Minister, acting in accordance with indications of the Council of Ministers, and as the responsible Minister, approved the draft Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201- and accompanying Report and asked that they be lodged au Greffe for debate by the States Assembly on 16th January 2018. The Assistant Chief Minister also signed the Statement of Compatibility confirming that the provisions of the Law were compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Reason(s) for Decision: The current data protection regime in Jersey received an ‘adequacy’ decision from the EU Commission in 2008, meaning that the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005 is judged to provide an essentially equivalent level of protection as the European Union’s (‘EU’), and that data may therefore flow freely to and from the Island and EU member states. The Government of Jersey has committed to renewing the ‘adequacy’ decision under a new European data protection regime. It has undertaken to meet the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (‘the GDPR’) and EU Law Enforcement Directive on the protection of personal information processed for the purposes of policing and public protection (the ‘Directive’). Following extensive consultation, the draft Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201- is proposed. The draft Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201- will create a new data protection authority that will be fit for purpose to regulate the new data protection regime. (In parallel, the draft Data Protection (Jersey) Law 201- has been lodged to ensure continued adequacy. It bolsters the rights of the individual in relation to their personal data in the same areas as the GDPR and the Directive). This Ministerial Decision and accompanying report relates to the draft Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201-.
Resource Implications: There are resource implications for the draft Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201- The new Data Protection Authority (the ‘Authority’), constituted under the Data Protection Authority (Jersey) Law 201-, will have an expanded role to properly regulate the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 201-. The Authority will be required to adopt a more proactive approach and to employ a wider and more robust range of regulatory powers and sanctions, with less emphasis placed on the role of courts to resolve disputes. This will place a considerably greater burden on the Authority and it is essential to provide it with additional resources commensurate with that burden, to allow it to carry out its new duties. A revenue model has been proposed that will both meet the requirements of the new legislation in respect of industry registration fees and provide increased revenue that will help enable the office to implement and enforce that legislation, and its increased function. There will be a transitional period to the end of the MTFP during which time the Authority will roll out the operating and fees model and begin to levy increased revenue. Additional funding is required to support these implementation costs and to meet the Authority’s increased running costs during the transitional period. The annual cost of the current Office of the Information Commissioner will increase by an estimated £1.1 million to £1.65 million per annum. There will also be a need for an additional £350,000 to support one-off implementation work. From 2020 the longer term costs will be offset by increased revenues from business which will allow the funding to return to close to current levels. These are high levels maximum estimates and work will continue to be done in advance of the debate to create more accurate and cost effective costings.
Action required: To ask the Greffier of the States to lodge the draft Law and Report ‘au Greffe’ for debate by the States Assembly on 16th January 2018.
Signature: Senator P.F. Routier M.B.E.		Position: Assistant Chief Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision: