Ensure your data handling meets UK GDPR requirements — lawful basis, consent, data subject rights, breach notification, and record keeping.
UK GDPR compliance is a legal obligation for every business that processes personal data. This checklist provides UK businesses with a practical, actionable framework for verifying compliance across lawful basis for processing, consent management, data subject rights fulfilment, breach notification procedures, and record-keeping obligations. It helps you identify gaps in your current data handling practices and take corrective action before they become regulatory issues.
Data protection officers, compliance managers, and business owners at UK businesses who need to verify and maintain UK GDPR compliance across their data processing activities.
The ICO can fine up to £17.5 million or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher, for the most serious breaches, though most enforcement action against SMEs involves warnings and improvement notices rather than maximum fines. Reputational damage from a publicised breach often costs more than any penalty.
Yes — there is no small business exemption, and any organisation processing personal data of UK individuals must comply regardless of size. The obligations scale with risk, so a five-person business handling only staff and customer contact details faces lighter requirements than one processing sensitive data at volume.
UK GDPR requires one of six lawful bases for every processing activity — consent, contract, legal obligation, vital interests, public task, or legitimate interests. Most SME marketing activity relies on consent or legitimate interests, and getting the basis wrong is one of the most common compliance gaps found in audits.
Work through your lawful basis for each processing activity, verify consent records and data subject rights procedures are documented, and confirm a breach notification process exists that meets the 72-hour ICO reporting window. This checklist covers each of these areas with a practical review framework.
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