This tool will help you generate a privacy policy for your business

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a new tool to help small organizations, traders, and other businesses to create a tailored privacy notice.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) dictates that every organization and business owner that collects people’s personal information has to explain why it holds this data and how it intends to use it.

Before a company can accumulate private information however, it has to ask people’s consent. Article 4 of the GDPR says consent must be ‘freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous’ in order for people to make a well-informed decision.

A privacy notice is the way to go to inform people what personal data your organization or business collects and how you’ll use it.

Drafting a privacy notice however is easier said than done and can be quite time consuming. Especially when you’re not familiar with legal jargon. To help organizations and small and medium-sized business owners, the ICO has introduced the Privacy Notice Generator.

“We’ve replaced our privacy notice template with a quick and easy generator tool to help you create a bespoke privacy notice in just a few simple steps. This brand new tool has been designed for sole traders and start-ups, as well as small and medium-sized businesses and charities to help make sure your organization is compliant with the law,” the ICO says on its website.

The Privacy Notice Generator offers two different types of privacy notices: one for customer and supplier information, and one for staff and volunteer information. The current version of the tool is suited for professional services (legal, finance, and insurance), education and childcare, health and social care, charity and voluntary work, and other businesses including retail and manufacturing.

Tina McKenzie, Policy and Advocacy Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), is content with the launch of the ICO’s Privacy Notice Generator.

“Data protection is a vital component of consumer rights, reassuring customers that their personal information won’t be mistreated, and is something small firms are keen to get right. By reducing small businesses’ cost of compliance, and the associated stress, the ICO’s tool should be a big help,” she says in a statement.

Lastly, the ICO encourages small business owners that already have a privacy policy to use the Privacy Notice Generator to check whether their current notice is up to date.