Accreditations
| Do I need to Register under the Data Protection Act? |
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One of the most frequent questions we get asked is whether an organisation needs to notify the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) and register under the Data Protection Act. As the ICO's website makes clear - "Notification is a statutory requirement and every organisation that processes personal information must notify the Information Commissioner's Office, unless they are exempt. Failure to notify is a criminal offence." Registration for most organisations is simple, can be done online, and costs only £35 a year for organisations with fewer than 250 employees. There are some exemptions to registering. Organisations who ONLY process personal information for staff records, marketing and accounting purposes may be exempt. Also some small not-for-profit organisations. To find out whether you are exempt you can download the Notification Exemptions guide and follow the simple nine question test. Even if you are exempt from registering as a data controller - all organisations processing personal data have a legal obligation to comply with the Data Protection Act. |