The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has put out a call for evidence and initial views on creating a regulatory sandbox.
It follows the inclusion of the plan in the ICO’s Technology Strategy for 2018-21, which proposed the sandbox as a safe space for organisations to develop new products and services using personal data.
The ICO emphasised that users of the sandbox will not be exempt from complying with data protection law, but will have the opportunity to draw on its expertise and advice in mitigating risks and data protection by design. It will also help to ensure that appropriate protections and safeguards are in place.
The call for evidence is the first stage of the consultation process aimed at establishing the feasibility, scope and demand for a sandbox, and will feed into a detailed proposal for consultation later in the year.
A similar exercise by the Financial Conduct Authority has been a key point of reference, but the ICO said it is aware of other options and views and wants to gain as wide a viewpoint as possible.
It is particularly interested in evidence based submissions from organisations developing products and services.
The consultation runs until 12 October.
Image by Tiia Monto, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
