The UK Information Commissioner’s Office is the independent regulatory authority whose role from our point of view is as the registrar for Data Protection and privacy in the UK. With the soft launch of Life Sign Press then we’ve moved from being a data processor to a data controller.

With the few queries that we have sent the ICO they have replied back with satisfactory answers. Their web site for registration is good (with one annoying flaw *see later on) but you really have to know exactly,

• what data you plan to collect on the public,
• how you plan to store and process this data,
• what you plan to do with the data,
• how you plan to secure the data and
• how you plan to get rid of the data.

This is not decided on a whim and this is not a one-off project.

Both Security and Privacy are processes not projects. Expect to be paying for these for the rest of your business life and this cannot be avoided without significant penalties if you get caught.

Open Mutual has had years of experience with handling client data and use of crypto and we can help you with this process too.

* the one flaw is that you have to print the forms that they have created and then send them by post along with your cheque.