Registration and beyond: changes coming in January 2021
From January 2021 all local organisations/businesses/sole-traders (and all other entities established in the Bailiwick) who are doing anything with personal data will be legally required to register with the Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA), and pay an annual fee.
The fee paid is based on how many full-time equivalent (FTE) employees you have:
- For large organisations with 50 or more FTEs the annual levy will be £2,000/year.
- For all other organisations, the annual levy will remain £50/year.
This may not be on your radar as you may be currently exempt from registration - these exemptions are ending on 31 December 2020. The ODPA is reaching out to all corners of its regulated community in Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Herm to make sure everyone knows what is changing, why it's changing, and most importantly: what they need to do.
The simple act of registering with the ODPA does not make you compliant with the law - how you treat people's data determines that. In light of this the ODPA are looking forward to registering new organisations from January 2021 and supporting them in understanding and engaging positively with their legal duties under the local data protection law.
Meeting these duties benefits organisations directly as it helps build trust and confidence with their customers, service users, staff and any other people whose data they use. And ultimately it helps avoid data harms that can devastate people's lives, careers, and reputations.