New fees to fund ICO to take effect in May
Melanie May | 27 February 2018 | News
A new funding model to pay for the Information Commissioner’s Office will take effect on 25 May, to coincide with the introduction of the GDPR.
As of 25 May, rather than the current model which sees data controllers pay a data protection registration fee, the ICO‘s new funding structure will be based on the relative risk to the data that an organisation processes.
As such, the model is divided into three tiers and 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 will be no more than the £35 they currently pay, providing payment is by direct debit, which has a £5 reduction.
Larger organisations will have to pay £2,900. 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.
Penalties for not paying fees will still exist, 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 £36million 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
The current notification fee remains in effect until 25 May. A guide to the new fee is available on the ICO site.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.