Charities: Data Protection

(asked on 10th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support she has provided to help charities adapt to changes introduced by the General Data Protection Regulation from May 2018.


Answered by
Tracey Crouch Portrait
Tracey Crouch
This question was answered on 20th November 2017

The Government and the Information Commissioner recognise the challenges facing organisations across the UK, including charities, in their preparations for the Data Protection Bill and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A recent survey by the Institute of Fundraising found that three quarters of charities have started preparations for the new law. However, the survey also found that 22 per cent of charities had not reviewed their data protection practices or begun preparations for the new regime.

In February 2017, the Charity Commission, Fundraising Regulator and Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) held a joint conference to help fundraising charities prepare for forthcoming changes. The Fundraising Regulator also published guidance for charities and fundraisers on complying with the law.

There are already resources on the ICO website (ico.org.uk) to help organisations employing fewer than 250 people prepare for the data protection regime. This month the ICO has launched a dedicated helpline service for SMEs including charities and has updated its SME toolkit to reflect the requirements of GDPR. The ICO will also be simplifying its "12-step" GDPR preparation guidance in response to requests from SMEs and will continue to develop further guidance on both the Bill and GDPR. Small charities and SMEs can also make use of the ICO's advisory visit service which provides organisations with practical advice on improving their data protection practices.

The Office for Civil Society’s small charities fundraising training programme already includes training on the GDPR, in recognition of the need to support small charities with meeting the new legal requirements.

The Government, Fundraising Regulator and the ICO will continue to support the charity sector to ensure it is prepared for the changes.

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