Daily reads: AI data licensing news for UK companies
The day's developments in AI data licensing, data protection and the market for company records, each summarised in a few lines with why it matters for UK companies and a link to the original.
The European Data Protection Board's draft guidelines on anonymisation closed for comment on 30 October. They set out a practical test for deciding whether data can be treated as anonymous, and say that if any of the criteria isn't met, more analysis is needed before relying on it. Separate draft guidelines on web scraping for generative AI closed on the same day.
Why it matters for UK companies: UK companies follow the ICO's anonymisation guidance, not the EDPB's, but many AI buyers operate in the EU and records often include people based there. Expect buyers to ask for evidence that de-identified data has been tested, so it's worth keeping the results.
The ICO published a report on foundation models after supervising ten large developers, which it says have made or committed to data protection changes. The report covers transparency, lawful basis, people's rights, special category data and whether a model can itself contain personal data. The ICO also opened a call for evidence on agentic AI, closing on 20 November 2026.
Why it matters for UK companies: The developers under scrutiny include the AI labs that ultimately use licensed company records. As the ICO presses them on lawful basis and transparency, they and their data suppliers may ask sellers for a clearer record of what was excluded, how data was de-identified and what people were told.
On 29 September a US federal appeals court held that copying a legal publisher's headnotes to train a non-generative AI research tool was not fair use. It found that the market for licensing that material as AI training data is developing, and that the publisher not having licensed it to others didn't disprove that market.
Why it matters for UK companies: This is US copyright law, not UK law, but it's another sign that training data is often licensed rather than simply taken. For UK companies it's a reason to treat a licence's scope and terms with care.
Daily reads are our own summaries of public news, with a link to each original. We pick items that matter to UK companies thinking about licensing their records, and skip days with nothing useful. Summaries are general information, not legal advice. Spotted an error? Email hello@recordyield.co.uk and we'll check it and correct anything wrong, with a note.
