The Information Commissioner’s Office has launched its second round of grant funding for organisations exploring data privacy in order to source and promote robust and independent data privacy information solutions. The purpose of the scheme is to award grants worth £20,000-£100,000 to help explore data privacy that have “real world solutions that are of clear benefit to the people of the UK.” The head of the ICO, Elizabeth Denham, stated:

“Information rights are evolving all the time and it is fair to say that a lot has happened since we launched the inaugural grants programme a year ago. The introduction of the GDPR and the new Data Protection Act 2018, along with high-profile cases and incidents, have meant that privacy issues and concerns about how people’s personal information is used have probably never been more prominent.”

Last year’s successful cohort was even mentioned by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy was argued that the “relevance” of the programme and the project funded highlighted the growing concern individual have over their data and its use by businesses and government alike.