The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched a public consultation on its draft guidance for Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), including blockchain. This is a crucial move as these technologies gain wider use.
 
 While DLTs offer benefits like transparency and decentralisation, their immutable and distributed nature presents significant data protection challenges under the UK's GDPR.
 
 The key data protection issues the ICO is seeking to address include:
 
 Who is the controller? The lack of a central authority makes it difficult to determine who is responsible for data processing.
 
 The right to erasure: The permanent, unchangeable record on a blockchain conflicts with an individual's right to have their data rectified or erased.
 
 Data transfers: The global distribution of DLT nodes makes it a complex matter to ensure compliance with international data transfer rules.
 
 Data minimisation: Storing data indefinitely on a ledger goes against the principle of only keeping data for as long as necessary.
 
 The ICO is inviting feedback to help provide clarity for organisations on how to responsibly use DLTs while upholding data protection principles. This consultation is a clear signal that compliance must be embedded from the outset, through a 'data protection by design' approach. Learn more here. https://lnkd.in/e3W9TAa6

CSRB will be following the changes in the ICO’s guidance. Please get in touch via info@csrb.co.uk to talk about your particular data protection queries.