WiTP x FTI: UK vs EU Data Law: Same Rulebook, Different Speeds

​Two of the world's biggest regulatory blocs are rewriting the rules on data at the same time and they're no longer moving in step.

​The UK's Data (Use and Access) Act is now live, loosening the rules on cookies, automated decisions, and legitimate interest all in the name of unlocking data for AI. The EU is doing the same thing through its Digital Omnibus, but on a slower, more contested timeline, with parts still being fought over in Brussels.

​All this sounds like good news for innovation and in many ways it is until you ask what happens to the bridge between the two regimes if the gap keeps widening?

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​The EU's adequacy decision, the thing that lets data flow freely between the UK and EU without extra legal scaffolding, isn't permanent. It's already been flagged as conditional. If UK divergence goes too far, that bridge can be reviewed. And if it goes, the fallback options are slower, costlier, and legally messier for everyone operating across both markets.

​For any business building with AI, this isn't a compliance footnote, it's a live strategic risk. The rules governing the most valuable asset for business, data, are diverging in real time.

​Complementary regulation could help drive leadership in AI development and growth, divergence could have the opposite effect.

​Join us as we discuss what this means for business and for people across the region.

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