The Institute of Fundraising has called on the Information Commissioner’s Office to “consider a process of transition” for charities in regards to upcoming changes to GDPR, in its response to the ICO's consent guidance consultation.
The Information Commissioner's Office published draft consent guidance for consulation last month and the deadline to respond was 31 March. In its response to the consultation the IoF urged the ICO to “consider a process of transition for organisations so that they have the necessary time to adapt to new requirements”.
The IoF said that this was imperative for organisations, given “time is so short” until GDPR will come into effect in May 2018.
Daniel Fluskey, head of policy and research at the IoF, said: “It is now coming up to one year before GDPR is implemented and that charities need clear and final guidance on which they can rely and make decisions. With time so short, we hope that the ICO will consider a process of transition for organisations so that they have the necessary time to adapt to new requirements.”
‘Guidance could be clearer and more helpful for charities’
In the IoF guidance response, Fluskey also said that certain areas of its consent guidance “could be clearer and more helpful for charities” and suggested “a more joined up approach in the presentation of the guidance”, as well as a “clearer illustration of opt-in and opt-out”.
“The standard for consent is raised under GDPR, and we think that the guidance could be clearer and more helpful for charities in certain areas,” said Fluskey. “Some of the specific areas we’d ask the ICO to look at include a more joined up approach in the presentation of the guidance so that organisations understand different legal conditions for processing data and fundraising activity.
“At the heart of this would be a clearer illustration of ‘opt-in’ and ‘opt-out’, and examples to explain how consent or legitimate interest can be used to process an individual’s data fairly and lawfully.”
NCVO: guidance ‘slightly unclear’ as to what ICO are encouraging charities should do
Elizabeth Chamberlain, head of policy and public services at NCVO, also told Civil Society Media that the umbrella body found certain areas of the guidance remain “slightly unclear about what the ICO are encouraging organisations to do”.
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“Currently the guidance is slightly unclear about what the ICO are encouraging organisations to do as a matter of good practice and what they will require of people on a legal basis,” said Chamberlain. “Encouraging improved practice is welcome, but as this is regulatory guidance there needs to be more clarity in this distinction”.
Chamberlain and NCVO also criticised the length of the consultation period, which ran from 2 - 31 of March: “It’s a shame," said Chamberlain. "That the consultation was open for only for four weeks – we encourage people to get their thoughts to the ICO as soon as possible.”
A spokeswoman from the ICO was unable to provide a figure of how many charities had been involved in the consultation.
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