The Conservatives Digital Economy Bill risks Britain falling behind by failing to ready the country for the changes of the digital age.
The Conservatives have let the country down on digital infrastructure data rights, transparency over algorithms, labour rights in the digital economy, digital identities and digital inclusion.

Ms Onwurah, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy, said:

“It is a disgrace to a 21st Century economy that so many can’t even download an email.

"Government are abandoning workers in the digital economy and leaving citizens’ vulnerable to abuse of their data.

"The Conservatives need to consider the thousands that work for the “new intermediaries” – like Uber, Deliveroo or TaskRabbit – who have few rights at work.

"We need a public debate on data sharing before opening  publics data  open to a free-for-all.

“Instead of a positive legacy, the Conservatives will leave us with a missed opportunity.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

The Digital Economy Bill has its second reading in the House of Commons today.
The House of Commons Library briefing can be found here.

Part 5 of the Digital Economy Bill enables public sector data to be shared with external bodies if benefit can be shown. However, it what constitutes a benefit will be decided by delegated legislation, which is subject to almost no public scrutiny.

Care.data, the NHS’s data-sharing programme, was so badly designed the project was discontinued because of the chaos over data security and consent.

The Digital Economy Bill makes no reference to workers’ in the new economy, which has seen “new intermediaries” rise as a form of employment. This includes Deliveroo riders, Uber drivers and TaskRabbit workers. They are categorised as self-employed and have few rights with their employer.

Deliveroo riders must respond to new orders within 30 seconds, and are not told their delivery location until they have picked up the food. They are paid £3.75 per delivery.
Uber drivers have 10-20 seconds to respond to trip requests through the app.

An Uber driver is given no notice of having their account deactivated if their star rating falls below 4.6.