Should the UK replace GDPR with a less onerous data protection regime?
The UK incorporated an amended version of the EU's GDPR into domestic law after Brexit. In 2025 Parliament passed the Data (Use and Access) Act, which amended UK GDPR to reduce burdens on business while keeping core principles, with most changes taking effect from February 2026. Reform UK has proposed scrapping the UK GDPR entirely in favour of a New Zealand-style light-touch privacy law to ease compliance for small firms and tech companies.
3 Opinions
Yes for the UK rulebook. A small firm should not drown in a copied EU text. Brussels cannot write our domestic law. They can refuse adequacy and still apply EU GDPR to anyone selling into Europe. That is a trade cost, not a veto. Lighten the home regime. Do not pretend the export lane comes free.
Brilliant plan: let’s scrap GDPR so the EU immediately revokes our data adequacy status, forcing every British business that trades with Europe to comply with two completely separate regulatory nightmares instead of one.
The UK should not be forced to accept any eu standards... We are own nation!