Robinson calls for Data Protection Act to be treated as a priority

Opposition Spokesman on Science and Technology Julian Robinson is calling on Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who has ministerial responsibility for the technology ministry, to give priority to the passage of the Data Protection Bill.

The Data Protection Bill was placed before a Joint Select Committee of Parliament in late 2017. The last meeting of the committee was on March 27, 2018, where the technical team from Parliament was asked to prepare a report on the submissions received, for the committee to deliberate on. The committee was chaired by former Minister Andrew Wheatley.

In a news release yesterday, Robinson said since Wheatley resigned, "there has been no communication on when the Joint Select Committee will resume

its sittings to conclude deliberations on this very far reaching piece of legislation. Neither is there any clarity on who will chair the Joint Select Committee now that former Minister Wheatley has been separated from the ministry".

Robinson noted that it was important that this legislation be given priority as recent international developments such as the Facebook data breach, where the accounts of more than 50 million users of that social media platform were compromised, highlight the need for data-protection laws and provisions.