By Pat Tomlinson, PACEY Advisor
Change to ICO fee
The annual ICO fee has increased from £40 to £52.
What is ICO?
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent public body which was set up to promote access to official information and to protect personal information.
ICO keeps records and details of all the registered organisations (including sole traders) that process personal data. They also handle concerns and complaints about legislation breaches.
You may be thinking – why does this apply to me?
“I know I’ve been told I have to register but I don’t really know why.” Childminders collect information about a child and their parents/carers – names, addresses, dates of birth and lots of personal information about a family. It’s now common practice to have this information recorded on electronic devices – laptops, tablets, mobile phones etc. Childminders may also share information and photos with families via WhatsApp and apps such as Kinderly, which means there is a lot of data being collected and stored.
This means you need to register with ICO.
How do I register?
It’s a straightforward process: visit the ICO website and complete the form.
The fee is paid annually, and you will get a reminder. If you prefer to pay by direct debit, there is a reduction in the annual fee of £5.
What do I get for paying the fee?
According to the ICO website, “Being listed as a fee payer on the ICO’s website sends a strong message to all those seeking to do business with you: it shows that you are aware of your data protection obligations, and that you run a tight ship.”
ICO use the money from fees to fund the ICO’s work providing advice and guidance about how to comply with the law, such as online guidance, a telephone helpline, and digital toolkits.
Information about all these services can be found on the ICO website.
How do I check to see if I need to register?
If you are unsure about whether you need to register, for example, if you have mainly paper records (contracts, child record forms) but do store some information on your laptop or phone, then you can use the ICO self-assessment tool to check:
What happens if I don’t register or pay the annual fee?
According to the ICO website, you could be fined up to £4,000 and ICO will publish your name as a non-payer.
It’s worth noting that you need to stay registered with ICO while you have the electronic information stored on your devices. This may be after you have left childminding (retired, moved to another job).
This is because some information has to be kept for a set period of time.
Further information about these times can be found in the operational records document in PACEY’s record keeping practice guide
