February 26, 2018

The Government has laid before Parliament the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, which sets out a new charging structure for data controllers to ensure the continued funding of the ICO when the GDPR comes into effect in May 2018.

Until the new Regulations come into effect in May, organisations are legally required to pay the current notification fee, unless they are exempt.

To help data controllers understand why there’s a new funding model and what they’ll be required to pay from 25 May 2018, the ICO has also produced a Guide to the Data Protection Fee.

The ICO’s data protection work is currently funded through fees levied on organisations that process personal data, unless they are exempt, under powers in the Data Protection Act 1998. The GDPR does not contain a requirement for data controllers to pay the ICO a fee.

The Government, which has a statutory duty to ensure the ICO is adequately funded, has therefore proposed the new funding structure based on the relative risk to the data that an organisation processes.

The model is divided into three tiers and is based on a number of factors including size, turnover and whether an organisation is a public authority or charity.

For very small organisations, the fee won’t be any higher than the £35 they currently pay (if they take advantage of a £5 reduction for paying by direct debit).

Larger organisations will be required to pay £2,900. The ICO says that the fee is higher because these organisations are likely to hold and process the largest volumes of data, and therefore represent a greater level of risk.

There will continue to be financial penalties for not paying fees, but these will be in the form of civil monetary penalties rather than a criminal sanction.

The fees are:

• Tier 1: micro organisations — maximum turnover of £632,000 or no more than ten members of staff. Fee: £40 (or £35 if paid by direct debit);
• Tier 2: SMEs — maximum turnover of £36 million or no more than 250 members of staff. Fee: £60;
• Tier 3: large organisations — those not meeting the criteria of Tiers 1 or 2. Fee: £2,900.

To read the ICO’s press release in full, click here.