17 November 2020

Reminder: Data Protection – Have you registered?

If you haven't, it's very important that you consider whether you should do so.  The good news is that it's not costly, for a company in our sector likely to be around £60, although this may vary.  We have been contacted by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to help the sector understand its obligations, which they're doing across all UK industry.  We've set out the background to this requirement below, and a link to the ICO's website which has a lot of useful information.

The Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) came into force on the 25^th May 2018. Under the 2018 Regulations, organisations that determine the purpose for which personal data is processed (controllers) must pay a data protection fee unless they are exempt. These fees fund the work of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which acts as a regulator in relation to Data Protection obligations.

The new data protection fee replaces the requirement to 'notify' (or register), which was in the Data Protection Act 1998 (the 1998 Act).

Every business or sole trader that has personal data relating to identifiable individuals is a data controller for the purposes of the regulations. The personal data that you have will typically relate to your employees, customers and suppliers.

You must ensure that you register as a data controller with the Information Commissioner, and pay the appropriate fee. The fee is calculated on a scale depending on size and turnover of your business, and you must renew this each year.

If you haven't yet registered, you may receive a letter from the ICO reminding you that this is a legal obligation. The ICO is currently engaging with businesses in our sector to assist businesses in understanding their obligations.

You can find out more by visiting the ICO website, and if you are not sure if you need to register you can use the self-assessment tool:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-fee/

If you have any further questions about complying with your Data Protection obligations please contact us.