The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a new tool to help small organisations and sole traders to create a bespoke privacy notice and better protect people’s information rights.

The privacy notice generator will help organisations in creating an explanation on why it holds and what it does with user data, something required under data protection law.

The new tool can create tailored privacy notices relevant to small organisations in a variety of sectors of the economy. There are sections for the tool specific to the finance, insurance, and legal sectors; education and childcare, health and social care; and charity and voluntary sectors. There are also sections designed for other small organisations in sectors such as retail and manufacturing.

The tool offers two different types of privacy notice: one for customer and supplier organisation, and one for staff and volunteer information.

For the former, organisations can display on their website or external communications, and the latter can be included in welcome packs, policy libraries, and other internal channels accessible to staff and volunteers.

“We’re very pleased to have supported the development of this tool, which will allow small businesses to generate tailored privacy notices in far less time and with far less hassle and cost than previously, or to check the robustness of their current notice,” Tina McKenzie, policy chair, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said.

“Data protection is a vital component of consumer rights, reassuring customers that their personal information won’t be mistreated, and is something small firms are keen to get right. By reducing small businesses’ cost of compliance, and the associated stress, the ICO’s tool should be a big help.”

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The ICO are also encouraging soul traders and small organisations that already have a privacy notice to use the generator to ensure it is up to date.

“We’re always looking for ways to make data protection compliance simple and stress-free for smaller organisations and start-ups, who tend to have less time and fewer resources,” Faye Spencer, head of business services at the ICO, said.

“Our new privacy notice generator is a quick and easy solution that provides smaller organisations with the support they need, so they can concentrate on what they’re good at, serving the needs of their customers and growing their organisation.”