The Digital Economy Act 2017 (Commencement No. 2) (Northern Ireland) and Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 7) Regulations 2026

• Citation: S.I. 2026/126
• Sections: 3

Section 1 Citation and interpretation

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Digital Economy Act 2017 (Commencement No. 2) (Northern Ireland) and Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 7) Regulations 2026.

(2) In these Regulations—

“ the 2017 Act ” means the Digital Economy Act 2017 ;

“ the 2025 Act ” means the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 .

Section 2 Provisions of the 2017 Act coming into force on 12th February 2026

The following provisions of the 2017 Act come into force on 12th February 2026, in relation to Northern Ireland only—

(a) section 35 (disclosure of information to improve public service delivery) ;

(b) section 40 (further provisions about disclosures under any of sections 35 to 39) ;

(c) section 41 (confidentiality of personal information) ;

(d) section 42 (information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs);

(e) section 43 (code of practice) ;

(f) section 44 (regulations under Chapter 1 of Part 5) ;

(g) section 45 (interpretation of Chapter 1 of Part 5 etc) ;

(h) section 48 (disclosure of information to reduce debt owed to the public sector) ;

(i) section 49 (further provisions about power in section 48) ;

(j) section 50 (confidentiality of personal information) ;

(k) section 51 (information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs);

(l) section 52 (code of practice) ;

(m) section 54 (regulations under Chapter 3 of Part 5);

(n) section 55 (interpretation of Chapter 3 of Part 5);

(o) section 56 (disclosure of information to combat fraud against the public sector) ;

(p) section 57 (further provisions about power in section 56) ;

(q) section 58 (confidentiality of personal information) ;

(r) section 59 (information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs);

(s) section 60 (code of practice) ;

(t) section 62 (regulations under Chapter 4 of Part 5);

(u) section 63 (interpretation of Chapter 4 of Part 5);

(v) Schedule 4 (public service delivery: specified persons for the purposes of section 35) ;

(w) Schedule 7 (specified persons for the purposes of the debt provisions) ;

(x) Schedule 8 (specified persons for the purposes of the fraud provisions) .

Section 3 Provision of the 2025 Act coming into force on 12th February 2026

Section 123 of the 2025 Act (disclosure of information to improve public service delivery to undertakings) comes into force, so far as not already in force , on 12th February 2026.