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The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology has opened a consultation, with responses due this week, into increasing the cost of register as a data controller with the ICO. The increase in annual fee is relatively modest – just £15 at the lowest end of the scale.
There are some interesting points arising from the consultation documents which give some insight into the on-going work of the ICO and how it is expected that work will develop.
The increased cost is justified, in part, by the fact that the registration fee has not increased since its introduction in 2018. With inflation, an increase is not controversial. The Secretary of State says that the ICO “is delivering the same level of statutory responsibilities with significantly less real-term income”.
When addressing the specifics of why the current sum is no longer adequate, the consultation reads:
“… the level of regulatory responsibilities that ICO is expected to deliver has remained the same – and is set to grow further with the additional measures outlined in the forthcoming Digital Information and Smart Data Bill. At the same time, the widespread adoption of digital technologies and AI has dramatically changed the regulatory context in which the ICO is required to carry out its data protection activities, requiring an ongoing investment in organisational transformation and upskilling to ensure it can discharge its duties effectively.”
A monthly data protection bulletin from the barristers at 5 Essex Chambers
The Data Brief is edited by Francesca Whitelaw KC, Aaron Moss and John Goss, barristers at 5 Essex Chambers, with contributions from the whole information law, data protection and AI Team.
