A 10 step guide to sharing information to safeguard children

Latest updates

14 September 2023 - this guidance was published. 

Introduction

This is a 10 step guide on data protection considerations when sharing personal information for child safeguarding purposes. It aims to help you feel confident about sharing information when you need to safeguard a child or young person at risk of harm.

It does not tell you how to safeguard children and young people, but it does give you practical advice on data protection as part of the safeguarding process. The ICO’s role is as the regulator of information rights, not of safeguarding practices.

Data protection law allows you to share information when required to identify children at risk of harm and to safeguard them from harm. Data protection law doesn’t prevent you from doing this. It simply helps you to share information in a fair, proportionate and lawful way.

It can be more harmful not to share information that is needed to protect a child or young person.

Appropriate information sharing is central to effectively safeguarding children from harm and promoting their wellbeing. There have been many reviews of cases where children have died or been seriously harmed through abuse or neglect. The case reviews frequently identify gaps in information sharing as a factor contributing to failures to protect the children involved.

Data protection law has an enabling role, supporting you to share information.

Who is this guidance for?

This guide is aimed at people who are involved in safeguarding children: at all levels, and in all sectors in the UK.

Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility – not just practitioners in child safeguarding.

The NSPCC emphasises:

“If you have any concerns at all about a child’s safety or wellbeing, don’t hesitate to contact [the NSPCC]”.

There is no single definition of safeguarding. Sharing information to safeguard children includes:

• preventing harm;
• promoting the welfare of a child; and
• identifying risk in order to prevent harm (especially helpful where the risk may not be obvious to a single person or organisation).

A number of organisations have their own definitions and advice on safeguarding (see the Annexe for definition examples).

In this guide, the ‘safeguarding of children’ and references to children include children and young people up to the age of 18.

The information in this guide is important for people in a wide range of roles and organisations, such as:

• senior leaders in organisations (they might not work directly with children on a day-to-day basis, although some have a legally defined role, such as Directors of Children’s Services in England, and the Chief Social Work Officer in Scotland);
• managers who hold key responsibilities for ensuring their staff share information appropriately, and sit between senior leadership and people in front line practice;
• people who are designated safeguarding leads and practitioners, as well as people who are less directly involved;
• those who work or volunteer in smaller local organisations such as youth groups, arts groups, or sports teams, including the social sector;
• those who work in the private sector, such as childminders, private schools, private day nurseries, and after school clubs; and
• competent authorities, such as the police or certain other public bodies and specific officials, sharing personal information for law enforcement purposes, who are subject to Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

Senior leaders should make sure everyone in their organisation has the required level of understanding of what to do to safeguard children. See Step 3: Develop clear and secure policies and systems for sharing information for more on this.

Follow these 10 steps:

• Step 1: Be clear about how data protection can help you share information to safeguard a child.
• Step 2: Identify your objective for sharing information, and share the information you need to, in order to safeguard a child.
• Step 3: Develop clear and secure policies and systems for sharing information.
• Step 4: Be clear about transparency and individual rights.
• Step 5: Assess the risks and share as needed.
• Step 6: Enter into a data sharing agreement.
• Step 7: Follow the data protection principles.
• Step 8: Share information using the right lawful basis.
• Step 9: Share information in an emergency.
• Step 10: Read our data sharing code of practice.
  
  

Step 1:  Be clear about how data protection can help you share information to safeguard a child

Our clear message is that data protection is a framework to help you share information. It doesn’t prevent you from sharing information to safeguard a child.

It can be more harmful not to share information that is needed to protect a child or young person.

But we know that there can be challenges when you want to share information:

• practical challenges, such as technological ones, or relating to systems and processes that aren’t effective or that aren’t compatible with other organisations you need to share information with;
• challenges due to organisational culture or long-established practices, that can be difficult to change; and
• misconceptions that you cannot share information ‘due to data protection’. Yes, you can!

Following these steps will help you to overcome these.

Get advice from your data protection officer (DPO), expert or team about your information sharing plans. For smaller organisations, ask your umbrella group or governing body for advice.

There are likely to be other laws and duties outside data protection that you also have to comply with in your safeguarding work. Some of those require you to share information in certain circumstances. Some sectors have particular requirements; for example, guidance for professionals laid down by UK regulators such as the General Medical Council, which cover things such as doctor-patient confidentiality. For those detailed requirements within your own organisation, make sure you adhere to agreed policies and obtain internal advice as needed.

Also, don’t worry about receiving a fine or other penalty, when you share information in good faith to help identify and safeguard a child you believe is at risk of harm. You won’t get into trouble with us. It will never breach UK data protection law to share all the information you need to with an appropriate person or authority in order to safeguard a child.

The Information Commissioner has made this clear in his video message:

The ICO upholds information rights in the public interest, and we always use our powers in a targeted and proportionate way. Our focus is to help you carry out information sharing in a compliant way, to support child safeguarding.

Step 2: Identify your objective for sharing information, and share the information you need to, in order to safeguard a child

Be clear about your purpose for sharing the information.

Safeguarding a child is a compelling reason for sharing information.

You can share all the information you need to, with an appropriate person or authority, in order to safeguard a child.

Step 3: Develop clear and secure policies and systems for sharing information

Put strong governance, policies and systems in place and keep everything under regular review.

Follow a ‘data protection by design and default’ approach to handling and sharing information.

Build a culture of compliance and good practice throughout your organisation to help you to share information securely.

Train everyone in your organisation in safeguarding and data protection to the level they need. Ensure that staff, contractors and volunteers all understand what they need to do to share information to safeguard children.

If safeguarding is not their day-to-day responsibility, they will require additional support from their management team.

Arrange regular refresher sessions of this training.

Alongside your organisation’s training, policies and procedures, highlight information on where people working within your organisation can get help on data protection, so they have support to make the right decisions.

Putting these policies and systems in place will help you to share information, whether you are sharing information on a routine basis or as a one-off.

Routine information sharing is sharing done on a regular basis in a pre-planned way. For example, a group of organisations might arrange to share information for specific purposes, on a frequent or regular basis, or both.

For this type of sharing, establish rules and agree procedures in advance, including assessing the risks by doing a DPIA and entering into a data sharing agreement.

For one-off information sharing, make a decision on what is needed to safeguard a child based on the circumstances at the time, bearing in mind what is fair and proportionate. Planning ahead within your organisation will make the process clear to everyone. However, in some instances you may decide, or be asked, to share information in one-off situations that are not covered by any routine arrangement or agreement. You may still share that information, assessing the risks at the time. We recommend that you make plans to cover such situations.

Sometimes you may have to decide quickly about sharing information in conditions of real urgency, or even in an emergency. In these situations, don’t be put off from sharing information; assess the risk and do what is necessary and proportionate. (See Step: 9 Share information in an emergency).

Step 4: Be clear about transparency and individual rights

Be clear about what happens to personal information at every stage; about how you’ll inform people about this, and how you’ll handle requests by people to access their information rights.

Tell people about how and why their information is used, giving them privacy information.

In any sharing arrangement, ensure you have policies and procedures that allow people to exercise their individual rights under data protection law:

• the right to access information held about them (the right of subject access);
• the rights to have their information rectified, erased or restricted;
• the right to object;
• the right to portability of their information; and
• the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing.

However, if you’re sharing information for safeguarding purposes, you might not be obliged to allow people to exercise all these rights. For example, if giving access to a person to information you hold about them would be likely to cause serious harm to a child.

There are exemptions and restrictions that you may use in some circumstances to limit these rights. The DPA 2018 lists the exemptions relating to health, social work, education and child abuse, and the circumstances where they can be applied. This includes cases of information being processed by a court, requests made by someone with parental responsibility or in cases where compliance would be likely to cause someone serious harm.

Step 5: Assess the risks and share as needed

When you are making a decision about sharing information about a child, it is very important to assess the risks.

If you are an organisation that shares information on a regular or routine basis, a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) will help you to do that. A DPIA is a practical tool to help you plan for the information sharing and assess and mitigate the risks to children’s rights and freedoms. It helps you to ensure your sharing is done safely, lawfully and with accountability. You may decide to carry out an overarching DPIA to cover situations that occur on a regular basis. It is worth noting that all organisations involved in the sharing need their own DPIA.

To do a DPIA, ask your data protection officer (DPO), expert or team, and for smaller organisations, your umbrella group or governing body.

However, there will be circumstances not covered by a DPIA, such as sharing information on a one-off basis (for example, if you are an individual employee or volunteer raising the alarm over something you have seen), or in an urgent situation or in an emergency. You can go ahead and share that information based on what is necessary and proportionate in the circumstances at the time to safeguard the child.

Step 6: Enter into a data sharing agreement

Although it isn’t mandatory to enter into a data sharing agreement, we recommend it because it helps all parties.

As an organisation, draw up a data sharing agreement (DSA) between you and any others that you are intending to share information with. As with a DPIA this is more likely to be feasible in scenarios of regular and routine information sharing between organisations.

Benefits include helping you and the party or parties you are planning to share the information with to:

• be clear about what information you are sharing;
• be clear how it will happen; and
• demonstrate that you are responsible for complying with data protection law (the accountability principle).

It may also be known as an information sharing agreement (ISA), or a data or information sharing protocol or contract.

Some organisations, including Government departments, may instead enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with each other that includes information sharing provisions and fulfils the role of a data sharing agreement.

Consult your DPO, expert or team, or for smaller organisations, your umbrella group or governing body about drawing up a data sharing agreement.

Step 7: Follow the data protection principles

The seven data protection principles lie at the heart of data protection; follow them when handling or sharing personal information. They are all important.

• Lawfulness, fairness and transparency
• Purpose limitation (share only for your clear, specified, legitimate purposes)
• Data minimisation (share information that is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for your purposes)
• Accuracy (and keep the information up to date)
• Storage limitation (keep the information no longer than necessary for your purposes)
• Integrity and confidentiality (ensure appropriate security)
• Accountability (demonstrate your compliance with the principles)

Please note that the principles and some other provisions are slightly different for law enforcement processing under Part 3 of the DPA 2018.

Step 8: Share information using the right lawful basis

Sharing information is always lawful when you choose the right lawful basis for you and for the circumstances. The ICO has a tool to help you – see below.

A lawful basis is a valid reason in data protection law for processing personal information. Using the right lawful basis means you can share all the information you need to, with an appropriate authority or individual, in order to safeguard a child.

Identify at least one lawful basis for sharing information before you start the sharing. Ensure you can demonstrate that you considered which lawful basis to use, in order to satisfy the accountability principle. Keep a record of your decision and your reasons, even if you decide that you do not have a lawful basis and therefore can’t share the information.

Consent is one lawful basis, but it is not required for sharing information in a safeguarding context. In fact, in most safeguarding scenarios you will be able to find a more appropriate lawful basis.

See more on this, below.

The most common lawful bases suitable for safeguarding purposes are public task, legitimate interests and legal obligation.

Public task: a lawful basis mainly for public sector organisations

This allows you to share information “in the exercise of official authority”. It is most relevant to public authorities, but it can apply to any organisation that exercises official authority or carries out tasks in the public interest.

You do not need a specific statutory power to share information using public task, as long as you have a clear basis in law.

Legitimate interests: a lawful basis for organisations outside the public sector

For example, charities or other social sector organisations, or the private sector. This includes organisations in the private or social sector contracted by a public authority to deliver a service.

Legal obligation: where you’re required by a different law to share information to safeguard a child

This might be a law outside data protection, and it might be either in statute or in common law, but not a contractual obligation.

Vital interests: sharing information to protect a life

Of course, you can always share information in an urgent situation where a child’s life or immediate wellbeing might be at risk.

Consent

While it is always good to work with the knowledge and understanding of those involved, or even their agreement, it is important to remember that the lawful basis of consent is not required for sharing information in a safeguarding context. And the withholding of consent will not affect your ability to share for a legitimate safeguarding purpose.

For a number of reasons, including the fact that there is often an imbalance of power between people and organisations, there is likely to be a different, more appropriate lawful basis for the information sharing.

Additional rules for special category (sensitive) data

• For special category data there are more rules to meet. Special category data is personal information that is sensitive and therefore needs more protection. It includes information about health, or revealing racial or ethnic origin.
  
  When you are planning to share special category data, in addition to identifying a lawful basis, you also need to meet:
  
  • a condition for processing under Article 9 of the UK GDPR (including health and social care); and
  • for some of those provisions, a condition in the DPA 2018 (including substantial public interest conditions such as the safeguarding of children and individuals at risk).
• When sharing information to safeguard a child, in the light of all the other factors you have considered, you are very likely to be able to meet one or more conditions.
• Sharing sensitive data for law enforcement purposes under Part 3 of the DPA 2018 is slightly different.

Step 9: Share information in an emergency

In an emergency, don’t hesitate to share information to safeguard a child. You might not have time to follow all the usual processes.

Make a record of what you shared, who with, and why, as soon as possible.

Some situations might be urgent, but not an emergency. Take a proportionate approach in the circumstances.

Plan ahead for emergency or urgent situations so that everyone knows what to do and the processes to follow when time is of the essence.

Step 10: Read our data sharing code

We recommend you use this 10 step guide in conjunction with our:

• Data sharing code of practice
• Data sharing page

Annexe

Here are some examples of definitions of safeguarding:

NSPCC

“What is safeguarding?

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.

Safeguarding means:

• protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
• preventing harm to children’s health or development
• ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
• taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.

Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This includes child protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child.”

Department for Education - England

The Department for Education’s statutory ‘Working Together’ guidance for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children defines safeguarding as:

• “protecting children from maltreatment;
• preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development;
• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.”

Education Scotland

The Education Scotland child protection and safeguarding policy says about safeguarding:

“This is a much wider concept than child protection and refers to promoting the welfare of children, young people and protected adults. It encompasses protecting from maltreatment, preventing impairment of their health or development, ensuring that they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and taking action to enable all children, young people and protected adults to have the best outcomes. Child protection is part of this definition and refers to activities undertaken to prevent children suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm.

We have a distinctive approach to safeguarding in Scotland linked to Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) which promotes action to improve the wellbeing of every child and young person.”