ICO

INFORMATION COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE (UK)

Preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

12 steps to take now

1. Awareness

You should make sure that decision makers and key people in your organisation are aware that the law is changing to the GDPR. They need to appreciate the impact this is likely to have.

2.Information you hold

You should document what personal data you hold, where it came from and who you may need to organise an information audit.

3.Communicating privacy information

You should review your current privacy notices and put a plan in place for making any necessary changes in time for GDPR implementation.

4.Individuals’ rights

You should check your procedures to ensure they cover all the rights individuals have, including how you would delete personal data or provide data electronically and in a commonly used format

5.Subject access requests

You should update your procedures and plan how you will handle requests within the new timescales and provide any additional information.

6.Lawful basis for processing personal data

You should identify the lawful basis for your processing activity in the GDPR, document it and update your privacy notice to explain it.

7.Consent

You should review how you seek, record and manage consent and whether you need to make any changes. Refresh existing consents now if they don’t meet the GDPR standard.

8.Children

You should start thinking now about whether you need to put systems in place to verify individuals’ ages and to obtain parental or guardian consent for any data processing activity.

9.Data breaches

You should make sure you have the right procedures in place to detect, report and investigate a personal data breach.

10.Data Protection by Design and Data Protection Impact Assessments

You should familiarise yourself now with the ICO’s code of practice on Privacy Impact Assessments as well as the latest guidance from the Article 29 Working Party, and work out how and when to implement them in your organisation.

11.Data Protection Officers

You should designate someone to take responsibility for data protection compliance and assess where this role will sit within your organisation’s structure and governance arrangements. You should consider whether you are required to formally designate a Data Protection Officer.

12.International

If your organisation operates in more than one EU member state (ie you carry out cross-border processing), you should determine your lead data protection supervisory authority. Article 29 Working Party guidelines will help you do this.

Introduction

This checklist highlights 12 steps you can take now to

prepare for the General Data Protection Regulation

(GDPR) which will apply from 25 May 2018.

Many of the GDPR’s main concepts and principles are much the same as those in the current Data Protection Act (DPA), so if you are complying properly with the current law then most of your approach to compliance will remain valid under the GDPR and can be the starting point to build from. However, there are new elements and significant enhancements, so you will have to do some things for the first time and some things

differently.

It is important to use this checklist and other Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) resources to work out the main differences between the current law and the GDPR. The ICO is producing new guidance and other tools to assist you, as well as contributing to guidance that the Article 29 Working Party is producing at the European level. These are all available via the ICO’s Overview of the General Data Protection Regulation. The ICO is also working closely with trade associations and bodies representing the various sectors – you should also work closely with these bodies to share knowledge about implementation in your sector.

It is essential to plan your approach to GDPR compliance now and to gain ‘buy in’ from key people in your organisation. You may need, for example, to put new procedures in and individuals’ rights provisions. In a large or complex business this could have significant budgetary, IT, personnel, governance and communications implications.

The GDPR places greater emphasis on the documentation that data controllers must keep to demonstrate their accountability. Compliance with all the areas listed in this document will require organisations to review their approach to governance and how they manage data protection as a corporate issue. One aspect of this might be to review the

contracts and other arrangements you have in place when sharing data with other organisations.

Some parts of the GDPR will have more of an impact on some organisations than on others (for example, the provisions relating to profiling or children’s data), so it would be useful to map out which parts of the GDPR will have the greatest impact on your business model and give those areas due prominence in your planning process.

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Step 3: Communicating privacy information

You should review your current privacy notices and put a plan in place for making any necessary changes in time for GDPR implementation. When you collect personal data you currently have to give people certain information, such as your identity and how you intend to use their information. This is usually done through a privacy notice. Under the GDPR there are some additional things you will have to tell people. For example, you will need to explain your lawful basis for processing the data, your data retention periods and that individuals have a right to complain to the ICO if they think there is a problem with the way you are handling their data. The GDPR requires the information to be provided in

concise, easy to understand and clear language.

The ICO’s Privacy notices code of practice reflects the new requirements of the GDPR.

Step 4: Individuals’ rights

You should check your procedures to ensure they cover all the rights individuals have, including how you would delete personal data or provide data electronically and in a commonly used format.

The GDPR includes the following rights for individuals:

 the right to be informed;

 the right of access;

 the right to rectification;

 the right to erasure;

 the right to restrict processing;

 the right to data portability;

 the right to object; and

 the right not to be subject to automated decision-making including

profiling.

On the whole, the rights individuals will enjoy under the GDPR are the same as those under the DPA but with some significant enhancements. If you are geared up to give individuals their rights now, then the transition to the GDPR should be relatively easy. This is a good time to check your procedures and to work out how you would react if someone asks to have their personal data deleted, for example. Would your systems help you to

locate and delete the data? Who will make the decisions about deletion?

The right to data portability is new. It only applies:

 to personal data an individual has provided to a controller;

 where the processing is based on the individual’s consent or for the performance of a contract; and

 when processing is carried out by automated means.

You should consider whether you need to revise your procedures and make any changes. You will need to provide the personal data in a structured commonly used and machine readable form and provide the information free of charge.

Step 5: Subject access requests

You should update your procedures and plan how you will handle requests to take account of the new rules:

 In most cases you will not be able to charge for complying with a request.

 You will have a month to comply, rather than the current 40 days.

 You can refuse or charge for requests that are manifestly unfounded or excessive.

 If you refuse a request, you must tell the individual why and that they have the right to complain to the supervisory authority and to a judicial remedy. You must do this without undue delay and at the latest, within one month.

If your organisation handles a large number of access requests, consider the logistical implications of having to deal with requests more quickly.

You could consider whether it is feasible or desirable to develop systems that allow individuals to access their information easily online.

TBC