What? An opinion on the definition of consent has been issued by the EU's Article 29 Working Party.

So What? There are concerns about the interpretation of consent in relation to UK data controllers as it potentially restricts several current notions of UK data protection law.

The EU's Article 29 Working Party (a body that advises the European Commission on data protection issues) has issued an opinion on the definition of consent. This opinion examines the individual elements of the definition and the requirements for consent to be valid under the Data Protection Directive (on which the Data Protection Act 1998 is based).

It has been speculated that the working party's interpretation of consent is likely to raise some concerns on the part of UK data controllers since it potentially restricts several notions that have informed the UK's approach to data protection law for some time.

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