Information Commission hikes fees to register as data owner

by Noelle McElhatton, marketingdirectmag.co.uk 02-Oct-09, 09:43

LONDON - Large companies will have to pay a new notification fee of £500 to register as a data controller, up from the current £35.

The fee rise is to enable the Information Commissioner's Office to fund audits and investigations.

The current rate for registration, required by the Data Protection Act for all organisations collecting personal information, is £35. It is the first rise in fees since the Data Protection Act 1998 was introduced in 2000.

The new rate, introduced yesterday, applies to data controllers with a turnover of £25.9 million and 250 or more members of staff.

Registered charities are exempt from the higher tier charge, regardless of turnover and size.

The new £500 rate also applies to public bodies with 250 or more members of staff.

All other data controllers will remain in the lower tier category, paying £35 per annum unless they are exempt.

By law organisations that process personal information must notify the Information Commissioner's Office.

The new fee structure will enable the ICO to increase activity, for instance audits and investigations, to help protect personal information and ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act.

The ICO's new commissioner, Christopher Graham, who took up his post in June this year, has already made his presence felt by calling for a tightening of laws to give judges the option to jail people found guilty of serious abuses of personal data.