Book review—The UK General Data Protection Regulation

This book, UK General Data Protection Regulation - A Guide to the Law, by James Castro-Edwards is a detailed and yet practical guide to anyone working in the field of data protection and the processing of personal information. Whilst the book seems aimed at practitioners with some knowledge of the law, it is also valuable for anyone new to the topic and is an essential companion to your library. The book provides the following:

• an analysis of the regulation itself
• an outline of the differences between the GDPR and the UK GDPR
• an explanation of how the Data Protection Act 2018 supplements the UK GDPR
• practical advice on the provisions of the legislation the obligations upon controllers and processors, and
• a Keeling Schedule of the UK GDPR.

The text compares the UK law with the EU general Data Protection Regulation and highlights any key differences and uses court decisions to demonstrate interpretation of the law.

In the chapter on Data Subjects’ Rights, I particularly liked the chart on exemptions under the law as to how and when data subjects’ rights can be either enforced or denied.

Whilst the book anticipates the implementation of the UK rules on international data transfers, it was published before the government published its ideas on the possible reforms to the UK data protection regime and so no doubt there will soon be a need for a second edition!

The book is available to purchase now from the Law Society.