The UK ICO Regulatory Sandbox service provides advice and supports organisations who are developing products and services that use personal data in innovative and safe ways.
Name in original language
ICO Regulatory Sandbox
Initiative overview
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) announced in its Technology Strategy 2018“2019 the intention of establishing a Regulatory Sandbox”to enable organisations to develop innovative digital products and services, whilst engaging with the regulator¦. It is of some significance that this initiative received top-level political endorsement, including at the WEF 2018 Summit in Davos. In 2018, the ICO carried out a public consultation on creating a Regulatory Sandbox which generated 65 responses, which were summarised in a paper published in November 2018. The paper outlined how the ICO intends to proceed in the light of the overwhelmingly positive response. The ICO has since published a further discussion paper on how the Sandbox will work, during a pilot programme, or beta phase, from March 2019 to September 2020. The regulatory sandbox model has been deployed in other areas, particularly in the financial services sector, including by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.The initiative has the following objective(s):To give participants the opportunity to draw upon wider ICO expertise and advice on mitigating risks and embedding data protection by design'. The Sandbox provides a free, professional, fully functioning service for organisations, of varying types and sizes, across a number of sectors.
Name of responsible organisation (in English)
Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
