Half-way through its annual registration period, Guernsey’s Office of the Data Protection Authority has thanked local organisations who have already completed their renewal, and those who have registered for the first time.
The registration period is open for another month – so there is plenty time for local controllers and processors to renew or create a new registration with the Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA).
Emma Martins (pictured), the Bailiwick’s Data Protection Commissioner, commented: “Each year we are seeing an increased willingness by our regulated community to engage in their statutory responsibilities to keep people’s personal data safe. Registration may only be the first step, but it is an important one. The high level of engagement is a positive sign that the ODPA’s key message, for us all to take our data protection responsibilities seriously, is hitting home.”
If you work with information, facts or opinions about living people, you are legally obliged to maintain an annual registration with the Data Protection Authority (the Authority) under The Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2017.
Organisations who registered or renewed during 2022 can review and renew their existing registration before the window closes at the end of February. For any eligible organisations who are not yet registered, they also have until the end of February to complete the simple 5-minute process of setting up a new registration.
Charities and non-profit organisations can register free of charge.
If you are not sure if you need to register, the ODPA has set out these three criteria to make this as clear as possible:
- You (whether you are a sole trader, organisation, business, charity, landlord, business association etc.) are established in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
- You are working with personal data (i.e. any information that may identify individual people, such as your staff members, your clients, your business contacts, your service users, your tenants etc.) either as a ‘controller’ or a ‘processor’.
- The activity you are performing is not part of your personal/household affairs.
If you would like to find out more, please attend one of the ODPA’s free weekly drop-in sessions or visit the webpage for guidance.
