Notifying the Information Commissioner

Introduction

If your business processes information about living individuals it may be necessary to notify the Information Commissioner.

Notification is a legal requirement for some companies. It's the process of telling the Information Commissioner:

• which types of information you process
• why and how you process it

From October 2009, a two-tiered fee was introduced. The two-tier fee structure is based on the organisation's size and turnover. There are some exceptions where some organisations will always fall into Tier 1 regardless of their size and turnover. Full details about the fee are provided when submitting a new notification or renewing an existing register entry with the Information Commissioner's Office. If you are not legally required to notify you may choose to notify voluntarily.

By answering a series of yes/no questions, this interactive tool will help you understand the legal obligations if your business acquires, stores and processes personal information. At the end you'll get the following:

• an indication of whether your business needs to notify the Information Commissioner
• links to additional guidance and the Information Commissioner's online registration page

This tool should take no more than 15 minutes to complete.

Go straight to the first question.

This tool is not a substitute for professional advice.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Do I have to tell the Information Commissioner about the information my business processes?

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