Tech Horizons and ICO Tech Futures
Tech Horizons
As the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) seeks to foster trust in how organisations process personal information. We want to empower people to safely share their information and use the products and services that will drive our economy and our society.
In our ICO25 strategy, we committed to set out our views on emerging technologies to reduce burdens on businesses, support innovation and prevent harms. These technologies advertise significant opportunities to make our lives easier, safer, more comfortable, efficient and fun; they also present a range of risks that may harm people’s privacy and their trust in these technologies, if they are not addressed as the technology develops.
Tech Horizons report (2025)
Rapid advances in technology continue, bringing new regulatory challenges. As with previous Tech Horizons reports, this edition identifies some important concerns posed by selected technologies, alongside their applications and associated risks.
This third edition explores four more technologies likely to be significantly adopted in the next two to seven years:
- Connected transport
- Quantum sensing and imaging
- Digital diagnostics, therapeutics and healthcare infrastructure
- Synthetic media and its identification and detection
Tech Horizons report (2024)
In light of continuing rapid technological advancement, this second edition considers a further eight technologies we believe may have a particularly significant impact on our societies, economies and information rights in the next two to seven years:
- Genomics
- Immersive virtual worlds
- Neurotechnologies
- Quantum computing
- Commercial use of drones
- Personalised AI
- Next-generation search
- Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)
Tech Horizons report (2022)
Our first annual Tech Horizons Report examines the implications of some of the most significant technological developments for privacy in the next two to five years. This includes:
- Consumer healthtech
- Next generation IoT
- Immersive technologies
- Decentralised finance
ICO Tech Futures
Our horizon scanning also identifies emerging technologies that present particularly complex and high-risk data protection and privacy challenges. This may be due to their scale, technical complexity, or the way they combine with other technologies. Our Tech Futures reports provide longer form analysis of these technologies alongside plausible futures in order to highlight critical issues and concerns.
Emerging genomics (2024)
Genomics is a relatively recent branch of scientific study. It focuses on the interplay of genes with each other and their environments and how these can impact our traits and characteristics. Genomics offers an opportunity to radically advance our understanding, diagnosis, support and treatment of a variety of illnesses and conditions.
Quantum technologies (2024)
Quantum technologies harness the principles of quantum mechanics to offer revolutionary advances in computing, communications, sensing, timing and imaging. They encompass a broad range of enabling technologies, with potential applications across diverse fields from medicine to finance, defence, law enforcement, materials science and public infrastructure.
As the UK’s data protection regulator, we want to ensure that people’s personal information, privacy and information rights are protected in a quantum-enabled future. We also want to encourage the UK’s quantum industry to innovate responsibly, and consider any privacy implications at an early stage. This report examines what a quantum-enabled future could look like, through a data protection and information rights lens.
Neurotechnology (2023)
Neurotechnologies include implanted and wearable devices that can gather information from our brains and nervous systems. They have continued to proliferate in the health and research sector over the past decade and may soon become part of our daily life. Our workplaces, home entertainment and wellbeing services may use neurotechnology to provide more personalised services in the years to come. This report uses plausible futures to examine the issues raised by these technologies, from risks of discrimination through to the impact of modulating brain patterns with commercial devices
Biometrics insights report and Biometrics foresight report (2022)
Biometric technologies are playing an important role in unlocking innovation, personalising consumer experience and augmenting security. We set out plausible scenarios and use cases for emerging biometric technologies across finance, entertainment, wellbeing, employment and education and analyse the key privacy and data protection issues.