A new amendment proposed by the Parliament of the U.K. could put the data privacy of trans people at risk. The proposed amendment would alter the way the U.K.’s Data (Use and Access) Bill would allow data on sex and gender to be collected, according to reports from Pink News.
If the bill is approved, the new amendment will force public bodies such as the National Health Service (NHS) and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), to update sex data to match sex at birth rather than use gender recognition documents like the official Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) which allows trans residents to update their legal gender on personal documents.
The bill was proposed by Parliament member of the Conservative Party, Dr. Ben Spencer, who wrote that public organizations collecting gender-based data from the public should do so based on “sex,” which Spencer defines as “sex at birth, natal sex, or biological sex.”
Trans people have been under almost constant attack in the U.K. just for existing. The country has banned lifesaving gender-affirming care for minors, and does not legally recognize non-binary as a gender, according to Equaldex.
The U.K. has also been ranked one of the worst places to live for trans people in Europe. Just this year, the nation’s Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on “biological sex” only.
Pink News warns that the bill amendment would “not only forcibly out every trans person on public records, but it could also see ‘inaccurate’ data completely erased and vital documents of trans people, including medical records, purged entirely.”
The new bill echoes hateful laws being passed in the U.S., such as Donald Trump’s executive order which banned trans and gender non-conforming people from marking their gender as “X” on passports.
