Age Assurance: Data Protection
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has carried out an impact assessment into the a) risk and b) impact on UK based individuals of data breaches of technology firms who hold information related to age verification purposes.
Answered by Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
The UK’s data protection legislation applies to organisations that process personal data, including age assurance services. The legislation requires personal data to be processed lawfully, fairly, transparently and securely. The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO), the UK’s independent data protection regulator, is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the legislation and has powers to investigate concerns about the misuse or mishandling of personal data.
An impact assessment for the Online Safety Act was published in 2024, which considers impacts on privacy including from the Act’s age assurance requirements.
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