We have launched a new, fast and easy-to-use tool to help small organisations and sole traders create a tailored privacy notice and protect people’s information rights.
Under data protection law, any organisation that holds personal data must explain why it holds it and what it does with it. This way, its customers, suppliers, employees and volunteers know what happens to their personal data.
To ensure compliance, organizations may provide this information in the form of a privacy statement displayed on their website or included in other communications.
The new privacy notice generator allows you to create bespoke privacy notices relevant to small organisations in different economic sectors in just a few simple steps. The tool includes sections specifically tailored to the finance, insurance and legal, education and childcare, health and social care and charity and voluntary services sectors. In addition, there are sections designed for other small organisations in sectors such as retail and manufacturing.
Case study one
“I absolutely love the Privacy Notice Generator. It is incredibly user-friendly and intuitive. With just a few details and a handful of questions, it created a privacy document for my website where I showcase and sell my original artwork.
“The fact that this service is free is amazing. They created the privacy policy in no time and I was able to integrate it seamlessly into my website.
“The legal jargon can be difficult to understand, but this generator seems to cover all the necessary elements.
“I would highly recommend the Privacy Notice Generator to anyone in a similar situation, whether they are building their own website or selling their own products online.”
Robert IlesArtists and small business owners.
Case study two:
“The privacy notice generator is easy to use, has clear instructions and minimal technical jargon.
“We also found the ‘What does this mean?’ tab very informative as it provides more clarity on what is required of you to correctly complete the template for your organisation. Once the template is generated, users can download it in Word format and make changes as needed, which is very useful if you already have a company policy in place.
“Overall, we will recommend this ICO feature to other small organizations in our community to encourage best practices in data management communications.”
Noir Space BH Ltda small medium-sized enterprise.
“We are always looking for ways to make data protection compliance easy and stress-free for smaller organizations and start-ups, who typically have less time and resources.
“Our new privacy notice generator is a quick and easy solution that gives smaller organizations the support they need so they can focus on what they do well: meeting their customers’ needs and growing their business.”
SarahHead of Business Services
The tool offers two different types of privacy notices. One for customer and supplier information, which organizations can display on their website or in external communications. And another for employee and volunteer information, which can be included in welcome packages, policy libraries, or other internal channels that employees and volunteers have access to.
Tina McKenzie, Policy Chair, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), added:
“We are delighted to have supported the development of this tool, which enables small businesses to create tailored privacy notices or review the robustness of their current notice in significantly less time and with significantly less effort and cost than before.
“Data protection is an essential part of consumer rights. It gives customers the reassurance that their personal information will not be misused. Small businesses care about getting things right. The ICO’s tool should be a great help as it reduces compliance costs and associated stress for small businesses.”
We also encourage sole proprietors and small organizations that already have a privacy policy to use the generator to check that it is up to date.
The privacy notice generator can be found here on the ICO’s website for small organisations.
Notes for editors
- The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent regulator for data protection and information rights. It protects information rights in the public interest and promotes openness of public bodies and data protection for individuals.
- The ICO’s specific responsibilities are set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA2018), the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) and five other Acts and Regulations.
- The ICO can take action to influence and change the behaviour of organisations and individuals that collect, use and hold personal data, including criminal prosecution, non-criminal enforcement and auditing.
- To report a concern to the ICO, call our helpline on 0303 123 1113 or visit ico.org.uk/concerns.
