The ICO exists to empower you through information.

The ICO is an independent public body and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is the ICO’s sponsoring department within Government. Our sponsoring department changed from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to DSIT in February 2023.

The Information Commissioner is the UK’s independent regulator for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, with key responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). In addition, the Information Commissioner has a number of additional regulatory and legislative duties.

The current management agreement is provided below. By mutual consent this has been extended to 2022.