Privacy rights organizations threaten the UK Government with a lawsuit over data protection negligence
Open Rights Group (ORG) and Big Brother Watch (BBW) are voicing their concerns regarding data collected by hospitality venues, which are obliged to keep the track of their customers due to COVID-19 restrictions. Although hospitality venues are obliged to collect customers’ personal information, the government is yet to provide clear guidelines on how to securely handle the customers’ data. The government’s delay in publishing a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) impacts many of the British, whose data may be used for other purposes than health protection. The data is reportedly sold to third parties for marketing purposes, although official guidelines clearly state that data should be stored for 21 days solely for NHS test and trace. Moreover, young women have reported harassment from bar employees after they left their contact information to comply with the COVID-19 restrictions. At the request of privacy rights organizations, data rights agency AWO sent the government a pre-action letter, urging them to establish clear data protection guidelines for hospitality venues across the country.
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