Category Law, Policy & Society

Data Use Act 2025: Liberties Concerns and Surveillance Fears

While the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) itself is focused on reforms to data protection and related frameworks, some commentators, civil liberties groups, and campaigners have raised broader concerns about how such reforms could combine with other digital policy initiatives to expand state access to personal data or create structures that could be misused for surveillance.

Understanding the UK’s Data (Use and Access) Act 2025

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) represents the UK’s most significant update to its data laws in years. Rather than replacing the UK GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018, it amends them and introduces new measures designed to modernise data governance, support innovation, and clarify compliance obligations for organisations.