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New data rules arrive on Friday, affecting UK businesses

ended 15. June 2026

Whilst many businesses will be aware of “GDPR”, which established rules which businesses must follow around data protection, fewer might know about a new set of rules which apply from Friday.

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 has been coming into force in stages, with the latest provisions taking effect on 19 June 2026. From Friday, organisations are required to:

  • give people a clear way to raise a data protection complaint;
  • acknowledge it within 30 days of receipt;
  • without undue delay, take appropriate steps to investigate and keep people informed; and
  • tell the complainant of the outcome.

Earlier this year, the law made some changes around when businesses are allowed to contact people, softened some of the rules around those annoying cookie notices, and gave charities more flexibility on how they can send emails to people.

Whilst larger businesses might have a legal team who will notify their people running the website, smaller businesses and freelancers, who also fall under this new rule, may not be aware of the changes required, and may be at risk of increased fines - as the maximum penalty for breaches of electronic marketing and cookie rules has been raised from £500,000 to £17.5 million or 4% of annual global turnover.

Freelancers and small businesses should look at these changes to understand how the new rules apply to them,  review their current processes and make updates this week.

  • How should freelancers and small businesses keep on top of changes like this?
  • Do rules like this put small businesses in a more challenging position, when it might be a single person running the whole operation?
  • Do freelancers and small businesses get adequate support, resources and education around laws and legislation like this?

1 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Matthew Knight
Chief Freelance Officer at Freelancing.Support
It's unlikely that freelancers will have a lawyer notifying them of things like this, and unless you're regularly reading legal and business press (which most small businesses and freelancers are unlikely to be doing) - it's easy to miss these important announcements. Finding good affordable and understandable advice can be hard too. The government needs to be doing more to provide education, resources and advice to the smallest of firms, to ensure they're better supported, prepared and informed.