Tag: ICO

ICO to prioritise Freedom of Information complaints with significant public interest

Stuart Mitchell

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced a new approach to prioritise complaints made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) where there is significant public interest. As part of the ICO’s efforts to improve its FOI services, the new prioritisation framework will ensure that complaints where there is significant public interest in the information requested will now be dealt with quicker than previously. For the past year, the ICO has streamlined its processes to better handle the volume and complexity of FOI complaints it receives, so it can do…

Read More

ICO statement following Scottish Government’s consensual data protection audit

Stuart Mitchell

The Scottish Government has committed to implementing a series of recommendations, following an audit from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This will lead to improvements in the way people’s data is handled by the Scottish Government. In 2022, the ICO carried out a consensual data protection audit of various directorates of the Scottish Government. While the ICO observed existing good practice, there are crucial areas the Scottish Government needs to improve on. Areas identified for improvement include: Carrying out a data flow mapping exercise to fully understand how data is…

Read More

New guidance to industry issued for game developers on protecting children

Stuart Mitchell

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a series of recommendations to game developers to help ensure they protect children when playing their games and comply with data protection laws. The recommendations are based on our experiences and findings during a series of voluntary audits of game developers, studios and publishers within the gaming industry. These recommendations  will ensure that games conform with the Children’s code and should assist design and gaming communities embed data protection considerations when designing gameplay. The Children’s code is a code of practice for online…

Read More

Update on the ICO’s change of approach to regulating communication service providers

Stuart Mitchell

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published a statement on 20 January 2023 about the obligations of public electronic communications service providers (CSPs) under Regulation 5A of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). Following feedback received, the ICO removed the statement from its website so it could review it in order to provide greater clarity regarding its shift in regulatory approach to CSPs, which is in line with ICO25 – our three-year strategic plan. As part of ICO25 we are aiming to reduce data protection compliance burdens and costs for…

Read More

ICO Empower people to foster trust in tomorrow’s technological advancements

Stuart Mitchell

The ICO is encouraging developers to consider privacy at an early stage when implementing new technologies to maintain public trust and confidence. Our Tech Horizons Report looks at technologies emerging over the next two to five years and warns that the significant benefits they offer could be lost if people feel companies are misusing their data. The report, which follows analysis of key technologies expected to impact society in the future, found businesses must consider transparency, what control people have over their data, and how much data is gathered to…

Read More