The warning, which appears in national newspapers, advises organisations that the Information Commissioner is the only statutory authority responsible for maintaining the register of data controllers. The register contains details about the processing of personal information carried out by data controllers, and is available to the public for inspection.
The Commissioner's action follows a significant number of enquiries from organisations which have been targeted by commercial businesses approaching them to register or notify under the Data Protection Act 1998.
The Data Protection Act 1998 introduced a system of notification, which replaced the previous registration scheme. Notification is the process by which a data controller informs the Commissioner of certain details about the processing of personal data carried out by that data controller. Those details are used by the Commissioner to make an entry describing the processing in a register, which is available to the public for inspection. For example, a web site business that collects e-mail addresses should notify the Commissioner that it collects this information and explain how it uses its database. It is a criminal offence to fail to notify unless an exemption applies.
The Commissioner warned:
"My Office has received a number of reports from data controllers who say they have been misled by the activities of these companies. I am particularly concerned that there appears to be much confusion caused by the tone and content of the correspondence being distributed by these businesses, and that some data controllers may draw a connection with my Office.
"The annual statutory notification fee is £35. We have worked to ensure that the process of notifying is a simple and efficient one, which is easily accessible to data controllers who need to notify their data processing to us."
For more information on notification and how to do it, see the Information Commissioner's web site at www.dpr.gov.uk.
The Commissioner is also setting up a web site to help data controllers establish whether they need to notify at www.doineedtonotify.co.uk (although it was not operating at the time of writing). A self-assessment guide is also available by phoning 0870 9027 522.