Complain about us

If you want to make a complaint about our service then you should do so within three months. Waiting longer than that could affect our ability to look into your complaint. In some cases, a long delay will mean that we will not consider the matter at all.

We will acknowledge a service complaint within 14 calendar days and in most cases we will aim to respond in full within 30 calendar days.

Where the complaint is complex, unclear and/or multiple issues have been raised, we may ask the complainant to agree the scope of the complaint. Upon receipt of an agreed complaint statement, we will respond to the service complaint within 30 calendar days. Complex complaints may take longer to investigate. 

If we cannot issue a response within 30 calendar days, we will provide regular updates and a target date by which we aim to issue the response. Unless there are legitimate reasons to extend the investigation period for complex cases, a response for complex cases should be issued within six weeks. 

Complaints about our decision making

If your complaint is about a regulatory decision that the ICO has reached, there are specific legislative or formal resolution channels that you must follow.

Data protection

If you disagree with the outcome of a data protection complaint you should contact us within three months for consideration under our case review process. Waiting longer than that could affect our ability to look into your complaint. In some cases, a long delay will mean that we will not consider the matter at all.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 14 calendar days and in most cases we will aim to respond in full within 30 calendar days.

Where the complaint is complex, unclear and/or multiple issues have been raised, we may ask you to agree the scope of the complaint. Upon receipt of an agreed complaint statement, we will respond to the complaint within 30 calendar days. Complex complaints may take longer to investigate.

If we cannot issue a response within 30 calendar days, we will provide regular updates and a target date by which we aim to issue the response. Unless there are legitimate reasons to extend the investigation period for complex cases, a response for complex cases should be issued within six weeks.

For information about what we do with personal data see our privacy notice.

Also available in Welsh language / Cymraeg (pdf)

• By email: If all your supporting evidence is available electronically, you can send your form via email by taking the following steps. We use Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt and protect email traffic. If your mail server does not support TLS, you should be aware that any emails you send to us may not be protected in transit.
  
  1. Complete and save the form to your computer.
  2. Open a new email, with 'Complain to the ICO' in the subject line.
  3. Attach this form and any other documents you wish to send us. Please ensure your combined email attachments do not exceed 10 MB in a single email. You may send attachments over multiple emails, but please indicate this in the subject line.  
  4. Send to [email protected]
• By post: If your supporting evidence is in hard copy, you can print out the form and post it to us with your supporting evidence.
  
  Send to:
  
  Public Advice and Data Protection Complaints Service
  Information Commissioner's Office
  Wycliffe House
  Water Lane
  Wilmslow
  SK9 5AF

Freedom of Information Act

If you disagree with a decision notice we have issued about your Freedom of Information Act complaint, the law does not allow us to review our decision. Instead, you can appeal to the First–tier Tribunal (Information Rights).

First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights)
GRC & GRP Tribunals,
PO Box 9300,
Leicester,
LE1 8DJ
Tel: 0300 1234504
Fax: 0116 249 4253

Email: [email protected]

Unless special circumstances apply a notice of appeal must be served on the Tribunal within 28 days of the date on which decision notice was served on or given to you.
 
Please note that the Tribunal does not consider complaints about decisions we have made under the Data Protection Act or the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Freedom of Information Act requests to the ICO

If you made a request to the ICO under the Freedom of Information Act for information we may hold, and you would like us to review our response, please see our internal review policy.

Taking your complaint further

If, having exhausted our service complaint procedure, you remain dissatisfied about any aspect of any service you have received from us or think we have not acted properly or fairly, you can take the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Complaints to the Ombudsman must be made through your MP. For further information about the Ombudsman’s service please visit their website (www.ombudsman.org)  or call their helpline on 0345 015 4033.

If your complaint relates to the way in which we have interpreted the law then the Ombudsman cannot help you. If you want to challenge our interpretation of the law, you should consider seeking legal advice.

 If you have an impairment and might need a service adjustment, please let us know.