Data Protection Fee – Do You Need to Pay?

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently launched a campaign to contact all registered companies in the UK to remind them of their obligations to pay a data protection fee. All UK organisations, companies and sole traders are required to pay a data protection fee unless they are exempt. If you are a data controller that holds personal data for business purposes on an electronic device, it is likely that you will need to pay an annual fee.

Since the introduction of the new data protection fee in May 2018, over 600,000 organisations have registered to pay. The ICO is actively contacting organisations to remind them of their obligation to pay and issuing monetary penalties (which can be up to a maximum of £4,350) to organisations that have not complied with a notice to pay or have refused to pay. For instance, between 1 July and 30 September 2019 the ICO issued 340 monetary penalties to organisations who failed to pay the fee.

If you are unsure as to whether you are required to pay a fee, you can complete the ICO’s online self-assessment. Alternatively, we would be happy to advise. Please contact one of our information law experts at:

• Julianne Kirkpatrick
• Lauren Danks