Has anyone else been contacted directly by the ICO?

Reply to the comment left by Chris Bradley at 29/05/2021 - 09:48
No, I am a dinosaur, my clam mobile is older than me and does not connect. to the web. I actually type letters and post them, and my files and ledger are paper based. I also write cheques and use cash. I even complete a paper tax return and actually speak to people face to face or on the phone. My involvement with tech is limited to f/b and some helpful sites like these as I view tech as a necessary evil, not to be overused. I actually find the old fashioned way quicker and less mentally draining in my day to day landlord duties but then I do not hold a large portfolio

Reply to the comment left by Chris Bradley at 29/05/2021 - 09:48
Chris I answered the 4 questions on the ICO site honestly and the ICO site made it clear I did not have to register. Anyone not sure just has to do the same and get it from the horse's mouth (so to speak)

£35 if you pay by DD - you probably need to register unless you hold absolutely no-one's information. You say management compaNy, if you mean flat management then yes you should be registered. They are sweeping up non-registered companies since GDPR.

Reply to the comment left by colette at 29/05/2021 - 16:31
I understood it to be keeping records of peoples personal details - in any manner. a rent book for example, copy of the AST, a telephone book with their names and numbers. Any referencing data.....

For this scenario all landlords are treated as a business. (I'll spare you all the taxes rant....)

Don't forget, when you do or if you do register, ICO are the biggest culprits for exposing your details on a public register, anyone can trace you , your phone number and where you live if you were a sole trader, where you work from home, so it is nothing more than another bloody money milking scheme, and it is a big hinderance to helping elderly and disabled and deaf people who can't answer phones for themselves and if you try to speak to utility or other companies, including HMRC, local Council to help sort out payments and other billing matters for the elderly who cannot use internet, or make phone calls, data protection is the biggest stumbling block, you cannot even speak for your family members, unless you have their written authority, so likewise, you cannot report anyone for a fraud because they will simply not discuss someone's account, sorry Sir, we cannot discuss anything with you if you are not the person whose account you would like to discuss. Its crazy. waste of time, Can it protect you really? what against Corona Virus?

As a landlord that holds electronic records of my tenants I signed up to pay the ICO fee several years ago. However, the freehold company of which I am a director (a separate thing from my landlord business) received the same letter as Adrian. It appears that the ICO is trawling through the Companies House database for unregistered companies.
It hadn't occurred to us that registration with the ICO was necessary because our freehold company comprises just six shareholders, does not have customers, does not make profits and does not use CCTV. In fact the only electronic data we have for the shareholders is their email addresses.
There are exemptions to having to pay the annual fee as their online checker makes clear: charities, non-profits, etc. Although they may still have to register. https://ico.org.uk/fee-checker
After using the checker it still was not clear to me that the questions and answers covered our circumstances, so I phoned the helpline and explained. The advice I was given was that if the information on all the shareholders was publicly available on Companies House then we would be exempt.
To be frank I am not sure what to make of the advice...I had the impression that the person was winging it.
I am fairly sure though that this ICO letter will be the first in an increasingly threatening series for companies and individual landlords that do not register, just like those from TV Licensing which hound people who do not watch television.

Reply to the comment left by Debbie Burgess at 29/05/2021 - 20:38
No, if all on paper then not required. As I said it is very easy to log on the ico site, answer the questions and it tells you whether you need to register or not.

Just had a letter for one of my companies where all the personal data is handled by another, associated but completely separate, company. I do not intend to reply.

And another, it seems as if the ICO would like every company, however small or insignificant, to register! ALL my processing is done by one company on behalf of several other related but distinctly separate companies none of which process any personal data be it electronic or paper, the companies concerned do not even own a computer. Even the list of shareholders is held in my head since even in my dotage I can remember my own name and the names of my two sons, the entire shareholder list.

Now since this data is processed in a biological computer should I register?

This is a fishing exercise by the ICO asking us to verify to it that we do not have to register, that is to prove our innocence.

". . . . go to ico.org.uk/fee to pay your data protection fee online - or to notify us if an exemption applies by filling in the short form at ico.org.uk/no-fee."

Guilty until proven innocent.