Call For Evidence: ICO Consultation On The Draft Statutory Guidance

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched a public consultation on its draft Statutory guidance, which details how it will regulate and enforce data protection legislation in the UK.

Supporting the ICO’s primary responsibility of ensuring compliance with the law, the document explains the ICO’s powers; when it will use them and how it calculates fines.

Designed to ensure the rights and freedoms of individuals are protected, the draft guidance also seeks to provide assurance to business that the ICO will use its powers proportionately and consistently.

ICO Chief Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said:

The primary role of my office is to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals in the digital age, and this draft guidance explains how my office will achieve this. “It sets out our proportionate approach to regulatory action, yet details the robust action we will take against those that flout the law.

The DMA will be issuing a response to this consultation and are seeking input from members who have views on the subject. More information is below. Member responses must be sent by Friday 30 October. If you would like to discuss or send in input, please contact Head of Legal, Asli Yildiz, or Head of Public Affairs, Michael Sturrock.

The text of the Statutory Guidance can be found here, and the consultation announcement can be found here.

As outlined by the ICO:

This guidance is a requirement of the Data Protection Act 2018 and only covers data protection law under that Act. Our other regulatory activity and the other laws we regulate are covered in our Regulatory action policy (which is currently under review).

We welcome written responses from all interested parties including members of the public and data controllers and those who represent them. Please answer the questions in the survey and also tell us whether you are responding on behalf of an organisation or in a personal capacity.

We will use your responses to this survey to help us understand the areas where organisations and members of the public are seeking further clarity about information notices, assessment notices, enforcement notices and penalty notices.

We will only use this information to inform the final version of this guidance and not to consider any regulatory action.

We will publish this guidance after the UK has left the EU and we have therefore drafted it accordingly.