Likely future ICO fees

Likely future ICO fees

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has announced the 3 tier system that is likely to be used to determine the amount of the fee payable to the ICO from April 2018. This is still subject to change and will require parliamentary approval.

The new fee structure is expected to come into force in April or May 2018. Crucially, the ICO states that it doesn’t mean everyone has to re-register and pay the new fee on that date. It’s expected that data controllers, who have a current registration (or notification) under the Data Protection Act, do not have to re-register or pay the new fee until that registration has expired.

The proposed fees:

Tier 1: annual fee of up to £55 - this tier is for SME’s that do not process large volumes of data.

The likely criteria:

  • Staff headcount below 250; and
  • Turnover below £50M pa; and
  • Number of records processed under 10,000.

*Public Authorities should categorise themselves according to staff headcount and number of records only.

Tier 2: annual fee of up to £80 - this tier is for SME’s that process large volumes of data.

The expected criteria:

  • Staff headcount below 250; and
  • Turnover below £50M pa; and
  • Number of records processed above 10,000.

*Public Authorities should categorise themselves according to staff headcount and number of records only.

Tier 3: annual fee of up to £1,000 - this tier is for large businesses.

The likely criteria:

  • Staff headcount above 250; and
  • Turnover above £50M pa.

*Public Authorities should categorise themselves according to staff headcount and number of records only.

Direct marketing top-up fee of £20 - this is for organisations that carry out electronic marketing activities as part of their business.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is currently finalising the fee regulations.

We await further information from the ICO on this topic and will report when final details are known.

As always, if you have a legal query please get in touch with the FSB Legal Helpline on 0345 0727727 and we'll be happy to assist you.