The commencement order for sections 6(2) and 6(3) of the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019 (DSA) was amended on 25 March 2022. This extended the commencement date to 16 December 2022, rather than 31 March 2022.

As discussed in our recent article, the coming into force of these remaining provisions of the DSAG is significant. It means that section 38 of the Data Protection Act 2018, which gives effect to Article 6(1)(e) GDPR, can no longer be relied upon as a valid legal basis for data sharing arrangements between public bodies.

Therefore, the delayed commencement of these provisions will be very welcome. Public bodies who currently rely on section 38 to share personal data with other public bodies will now have additional time to ensure that Data Sharing Agreements are put in place so that they can continue to do so lawfully. This is particularly useful considering that these agreements must be subject to a public consultation process for a period of 28 days, and that the preparation of these documents will undoubtedly be a significant and time-consuming exercise due to the level of specificity required.

If you would like to talk to us about making adequate preparations in advance of 16 December 2022, please contact a member of our Public, Regulatory & Investigations team.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.