Our mission
Promoting public access to official information and protecting your personal information.
The ICO is the UK’s independent public authority set up to promote access to official information and protect personal information. We do this by promoting good practice, ruling on complaints, providing information to individuals and organisations, and taking appropriate action when the law is broken.
The ICO enforces and oversees the Freedom of Information Act, the Environmental Information Regulations, the Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
- The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives people a general right of access to
information held by most public authorities. Aimed at promoting a culture of openness and
accountability across the public sector, it enables a better understanding of how public
authorities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do and how they
spend public money.
- The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 provide an additional means of
access for people who want environmental information. The Regulations cover more
organisations than the Freedom of Information Act, including some private sector bodies,
and have fewer exceptions.
- The Data Protection Act 1998 gives citizens important rights including the right to know
what information is held about them and the right to correct information that is wrong. The
Data Protection Act helps to protect the interests of individuals by obliging organisations to
manage the personal information they hold in an appropriate way.
- The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 support the Data Protection Act by regulating the use of electronic communications used for the purpose of unsolicited marketing to individuals and organisations.