On July 17, 2024, the King’s Speech marked the start of the UK parliamentary year. Following the recent UK election, the King’s Speech set out the new Labour government’s priorities, including proposed laws. After it became clear that the UK Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, introduced by the previous government, was not to become law, questions were raised regarding how the new government would seek to address data protection and related matters. In the King’s Speech, the following new laws were announced:

• The Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, which reportedly will, among other things, regulate the use of digital IDs and establish “smart data schemes,” a method for sharing data upon a consumer’s request; and
• The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which reportedly will aim to strengthen the UK’s cyber defenses to protect critical infrastructure.

Drafts of the laws are currently not available.

The King’s Speech also touched on the new government’s proposed approach to artificial intelligence (“AI”). While no specific legislation was cited, it was stated that the government will seek to establish legislation to regulate the development of AI. This deviates from the approach proposed by the previous government, which took a non-binding approach to regulating the development and use of AI.