UK data protection law introduces mandatory complaint reporting requirements

UK information safety compliance entered a brand new part on July 10, 2025, when the Knowledge (Use and Entry) Act 2025 launched part 164B, mandating controllers to inform the Data Commissioner’s Workplace (ICO) about grievance volumes obtained underneath part 164A. In keeping with the legislative framework, “The Secretary of State might by laws require a controller to inform the Commissioner of the variety of complaints made to the controller underneath part 164A in intervals specified or described within the laws.”

The modification represents essentially the most vital enhancement to UK information safety reporting obligations because the UK GDPR implementation. Controllers working throughout sectors together with advertising and marketing know-how, promoting platforms, and e-commerce should now set up systematic grievance monitoring mechanisms past easy response protocols.

Chook & Chook LLP ready complete Keeling Schedules documenting these adjustments. In keeping with the agency’s evaluation revealed July 10, 2025, “controllers are actually required to offer metrics about their responses to UK information safety requests.” Ruth Boardman, co-head of Chook & Chook’s Privateness & Knowledge Safety Observe, famous that laws might set up particular reporting intervals and circumstances triggering notification necessities.

Abstract

Who: UK information controllers throughout all sectors, together with advertising and marketing know-how platforms, promoting networks, and e-commerce operations, should implement the brand new grievance reporting necessities underneath supervision from the Data Commissioner’s Workplace.

What: Part 164B of the Knowledge (Use and Entry) Act 2025 mandates controllers to inform the ICO about grievance volumes obtained underneath part 164A, establishing systematic monitoring and reporting obligations for information safety complaints past present response necessities.

When: The laws obtained Royal Assent on July 10, 2025, with implementation timelines to be established by means of secondary laws inside an estimated 18-month interval, permitting for sector-specific rollout schedules.

The place: The necessities apply throughout England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Eire for all information processing actions topic to UK information safety laws, affecting each home and worldwide organizations processing UK private information.

Why: The framework goals to boost information safety enforcement by means of systematic monitoring of grievance patterns and response effectiveness, offering regulators with complete oversight instruments whereas guaranteeing people obtain applicable cures for information safety violations.

Technical implementation necessities

Part 164B grants the Secretary of State regulatory authority to find out notification mechanics. In keeping with the statutory textual content, laws might embody “provision a few matter listed in subsection (4), or provision conferring energy on the Commissioner to find out these issues.” These issues embody notification kind and method, timing parameters, and calculation methodologies for grievance volumes throughout specified intervals.

The laws establishes that controllers want solely report throughout circumstances “specified within the laws,” indicating a threshold-based system relatively than common reporting. This strategy mirrors enforcement patterns noticed throughout European jurisdictions, the place data protection authorities have demonstrated varying levels of enforcement activity.

Grievance dealing with framework

Part 164A establishes the inspiration for the reporting system by codifying grievance procedures. Controllers should “facilitate the making of complaints underneath this part by taking steps comparable to offering a grievance kind which might be accomplished electronically and by different means.” The supply requires acknowledgment inside 30 days and mandates controllers to “with out undue delay take applicable steps to reply to the grievance, and inform the complainant of the end result of the grievance.”

These necessities align with broader European developments emphasizing transparency in information safety compliance. Latest enforcement actions have highlighted the significance of clear communication with information topics, as demonstrated by Spotify’s €5.4 million penalty for transparency failures confirmed by Swedish courts in June 2025.

Enforcement implications

Part 149(5A) designates failure to adjust to sections 164A or 164B as grounds for enforcement notices. In keeping with the statutory language, “The fifth sort of failure is the place a controller has failed, or is failing, to adjust to part 164A or with laws underneath part 164B.” This classification locations grievance dealing with violations alongside basic information safety breaches comparable to UK GDPR precept violations and information topic rights infringements.

The enforcement framework signifies the federal government’s intention to deal with grievance transparency as a core compliance obligation relatively than an administrative requirement. Advertising professionals working programmatic promoting platforms and buyer information platforms ought to anticipate ICO scrutiny of grievance response procedures alongside conventional information processing assessments.

Impression on advertising and marketing operations

Digital advertising and marketing operations face specific challenges implementing the brand new necessities. Programmatic promoting platforms processing tens of millions of bid requests every day should now systematically monitor and categorize information safety complaints. Buyer relationship administration techniques require updates to seize grievance metadata essential for regulatory reporting.

The timing coincides with ongoing debates about consent mechanisms throughout European markets. Advertising know-how distributors deploying “consent or pay” fashions might expertise elevated grievance volumes as privateness advocates problem these practices by means of information safety channels.

Attribution modeling and viewers segmentation applied sciences should additionally put together for enhanced scrutiny. Latest developments in AI training data processing reveal courts’ willingness to look at technical implementation particulars when assessing professional pursuits for information processing.

Regulatory precedents

The UK strategy displays broader European enforcement patterns emphasizing administrative compliance alongside substantive information safety necessities. German authorities have confronted legal challenges over enforcement delays, highlighting the significance of systematic grievance processing procedures.

Swedish authorities demonstrated the monetary penalties of insufficient transparency. In keeping with court docket documentation, Spotify’s violations centered on “failing to offer clear and simply accessible info essential for registered customers to train their rights underneath the regulation.” The penalty calculation thought-about each violation severity and consumer influence scale.

Implementation timeline

The Knowledge (Use and Entry) Act obtained Royal Assent with provisions taking impact by means of staged implementation. Part 212 establishes that the majority provisions “come into drive on such day because the Secretary of State might by laws appoint.” Transitional preparations underneath sections 213 and Schedule 20 present flexibility for organizations adapting present compliance techniques.

Controllers ought to anticipate laws specifying reporting thresholds, calculation methodologies, and notification procedures inside 18 months. The Secretary of State retains authority to ascertain completely different implementation dates for various regulatory points, doubtlessly permitting sector-specific rollouts.

Worldwide coordination

UK authorities proceed coordinating with European counterparts regardless of post-Brexit regulatory divergence. The European Data Protection Board’s recent guidance on AI model privacy compliance signifies continued alignment on basic privateness rules at the same time as particular necessities evolve in another way.

Cross-border information switch preparations stay crucial for multinational advertising and marketing operations. Controllers processing UK private information from European Financial Space operations should navigate each UK grievance reporting necessities and European transparency obligations underneath GDPR Article 15.

Trying forward

The grievance reporting framework alerts broader UK intentions to boost information safety enforcement by means of systematic monitoring relatively than reactive investigation. Advertising professionals ought to put together for elevated regulatory visibility into grievance patterns and response effectiveness.

Future laws might set up industry-specific thresholds reflecting sector grievance volumes and backbone complexity. Monetary providers and telecommunications sectors with established grievance dealing with procedures might face completely different necessities than rising know-how platforms with restricted historic grievance information.

Timeline