ICO's Strategic Plan For The ‘New Frontier' Of Data Protection

The ICO recently published its Information Rights Strategic Plan for 2017 – 2021 (the 'Plan'). Within it, the ICO Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, asserts that we are on the "edge of a new frontier," and that the data protection landscape is about to be reshaped by the "game changing" General Data Protection Regulation (the 'GDPR'). Noting the significant changes for organisations, the public and regulators, the Commissioner sets the key aim of ensuring that data protection regulators stay relevant. According to the Commissioner's opening statement, this entails increasing the public's trust in government, public bodies and the private sector in terms of not only transparency, but also their involvement in the digital economy and digital public services.