Blockchain: the right to be forgotten (or not)

• The right to erasure under Article 17 under the UK GDPR is not absolute and specialist lawyers ought to be involved in blockchain projects from their outset, to assess their suitability for compliance.

Now that the UK has left the EU and the transition period has ended, the provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) no longer strictly apply to the UK, albeit the Regulation’s extraterritorial reach continues to affect those offering goods or services to data subjects in the EU. Even for those who only serve individuals in the UK, however, the Regulation’s effects continue to be felt, as its provisions have been incorporated into domestic law as the ‘UK GDPR’.

Practically speaking, the core data principles, rights and obligations remain largely unchanged as a result of this regulatory switch, and as such this article makes no distinction in its analysis