Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and management company

[vulcangascompany]

I keep being badgered by the ICO to register, we have a small management company to run a building with 3 flats in it. I filled in an exemption form as I believed that as we had no CCTV we didn't need to but it appears that they have a much wider remit than that eg concerning our financial payments. Has anyone else experience in this and their dealings? What happens if i ignore it for instance, to make it clear - the company is well run, produces accounts etc - i'm just not sure what they add value wise. Thanks

[adg31]

My guess is that since you will likely be holding personal information on your tenants (names, addresses, telephones, bank accounts etc) they will be wanting to ensure that this is done securely in line with data protection and processing regulations with a nominated data protection officer.
Since they are essentially funded by the penalty revenues they levy there is a strong incentive to increase their scope.
In fairness it’s not a bad thing when you see the cavalier manner that many organisations used to have in protecting your data from getting into the hands of the less desirable elements of society.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[joe narvey]

https://www.businessreviewed.com/kno...r-with-the-ico

I was going to write a fuller reply but plenty of information online.

It can be very expensive to not comply.

[vulcangascompany]

https://www.businessreviewed.com/kno...r-with-the-ico

I was going to write a fuller reply but plenty of information online.

It can be very expensive to not comply.

Thanks for the link - that makes more sense than anything else i've read on the matter!
Looks like its worth £40 a year.

[Sinnlover]

Thanks for the link - that makes more sense than anything else i've read on the matter!
Looks like its worth £40 a year.

Having read the link I think you would be exempt. Assuming different parties own the flats and the company is only there to manage the property, you do not record personal data of the occupiers, do not have CCTV and is not for profit (most management companies are) you are exempt (I had similar and once I had submitted the assessment form they stopped chasing.
It seems to me to be nothing more than a CCTV tax. Paying a fee will not automatically make any data more secure. The government didn’t make the introduction of this well publicised, I thought it was a scam at first.

[Reeny]

As a self-employed trainer for an accredited examination body, I was obliged to register the fact that I held personal details of 3rd party trainees attending courses - name, address, date of birth etc.
You will need a data protection policy, and procedures to control data (to ensure that you back-up the stuff you need to keep, and safely delete the stuff you don't).

The policies and procedures were the costly items in terms of time to write-up and sort out.
After the initial application is accepted, it is easy to renew each year.
I can dig out my old policy & procedures if you send me a PM.

[vulcangascompany]

Having read the link I think you would be exempt. Assuming different parties own the flats and the company is only there to manage the property, you do not record personal data of the occupiers, do not have CCTV and is not for profit (most management companies are) you are exempt (I had similar and once I had submitted the assessment form they stopped chasing.
It seems to me to be nothing more than a CCTV tax. Paying a fee will not automatically make any data more secure. The government didn’t make the introduction of this well publicised, I thought it was a scam at first.

This is where it gets confusing, i submitted their online form which outlined we are exempt but they have now emailed to say we are not! Not sure what to do now..

[daveyw]

You’re not exempt. It’s another annoying tax on business. It’s forty quid. Pay it begrudgingly and move on.

[Sinnlover]

You’re not exempt. It’s another annoying tax on business. It’s forty quid. Pay it begrudgingly and move on.

You are exempt if you meet the criteria
Most property management companies (as seems to be the case here) would be I would have thought.
But you are correct it’s just another tax

[Sinnlover]

This is where it gets confusing, i submitted their online form which outlined we are exempt but they have now emailed to say we are not! Not sure what to do now..

I would submit it again with the info you have first time
If you have correspondence saying you are exempt keep it on file.

[MB2]

You’re not exempt. It’s another annoying tax on business. It’s forty quid. Pay it begrudgingly and move on.

This was our conclusion - although I know several businesses who haven't paid it, as we have CCTV we decided it was a bit of a scam but hard to avoid.

[daveyw]

I read it as we hold data. We own a commercial property and have tenants information. That’s it. £40
So unless you have no tenants and the building is empty you will be subject to the charge too
Sorry

[Montello]

I can't see how any landlords would be considered exempt so you have to register with the ICO and have in place policy documents.

I bet the vast majority are not registered and those who are probably don't have all the necessary compliance documentation and processes in place.

Yet more examples of how it is getting more and more difficult for small operators who don't have a compliance department at their disposal to function ...

[Reeny]

With due respect - an operator should not be in business if they are unable to comply with the ICO requirements to carry out satisfactory safeguards to hold customers personal information, bank details, Email and telephone contact info.
£40 is a minimum fee for the ICO registration process, and is much cheaper than the landlords duty to have a gas safe engineer call in once a year to service the gas boiler.

[David_D]

£40 is a minimum fee for the ICO registration process, and is much cheaper than the landlords duty to have a gas safe engineer call in once a year to service the gas boiler.

I get a something for my gas engineer visit!

[Montello]

I get a something for my gas engineer visit!

I think this is a fair point …

[vulcangascompany]

Thanks for all the good advice, i think we'll sort this out and pay the £40, never a bad idea to look after other peoples data security etc of course.