25/04/2018

Information Commissioner’s Office introduces lawful basis tool for GDPR

The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation is fast approaching: the 25th May is now a mere 30 working days away. As of then, all organisations will have to be complaint with the new regulation.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has introduced a tool to help businesses understand and comply with the regulation. Their ‘lawful basis interactive guidance tool’ gives tailored guidance on which lawful basis is likely to be most appropriate for data processing. According to the ICO, the tool will give an ‘indicative rating for each lawful basis, based on your answers to key questions, with advice on suggested actions and links to relevant guidance content’.

Susanne Matthissen, our GDPR expert, explains, ‘this tool will really help businesses of all shapes and sizes to work out what legal basis they can rely on for their processing activities. Almost all organisations process personal data – whether HR or commercial – and, under GDPR, they’ll need to be clearer about why and how they’re doing that. The ICO’s introduction of this kind of tool will make it quick and easy to check and better understand how any processing activities fit in with the law, which will be key for accountability. We’d advise all businesses to make use of it.’