November 4, 2019

The ICO says that organisations must “understand the risks they create for individuals when processing their data and mitigate against those risks” and must be able to “demonstrate that they handle personal data appropriately and effectively”. These actions are all a part of the data protection requirement of accountability.

The ICO acknowledges that many organisations are already working hard at this, but realises that accountability also “demands real work and a real culture change”. Accordingly, it will be developing an accountability toolkit.

The proposed toolkit will, the ICO says, “enable organisations to understand the ICO’s expectations and take responsibility for designing their own accountability programs”.

The ICO plans to launch the framework in 2020, but before it starts development it is asking for views and suggestions on its early ideas and assumptions about the scope, structure and design of an accountability toolkit. For details on how to provide feedback, click here.