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As last captured

Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 ·

5 Security of public electronic communications services

reg. 5 · in force: yes

Captured statutory text (L5)

5 Security of public electronic communications services

(1)Subject to paragraph (2), a provider of a public electronic communications service (“the service provider”) shall take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the security of that service.
(1A)The measures referred to in paragraph (1) shall at least—
(a)ensure that personal data can be accessed only by authorised personnel for legally authorised purposes;
(b)protect personal data stored or transmitted against accidental or unlawful destruction, accidental loss or alteration, and unauthorised or unlawful storage, processing, access or disclosure; and
(c)ensure the implementation of a security policy with respect to the processing of personal data.
(2)If necessary, the measures required by paragraph (1) may be taken by the service provider in conjunction with the provider of the electronic communications network by means of which the service is provided, and that network provider shall comply with any reasonable requests made by the service provider for these purposes.
(3)Where, notwithstanding the taking of measures as required by paragraph (1), there remains a significant risk to the security of the public electronic communications service, the service provider shall inform the subscribers concerned of—
(a)the nature of that risk;
(b)any appropriate measures that the subscriber may take to safeguard against that risk; and
(c)the likely costs to the subscriber involved in the taking of such measures.
(4)For the purposes of paragraph (1), a measure shall only be taken to be appropriate if, having regard to—
(a)the state of technological developments, and
(b)the cost of implementing it,
it is proportionate to the risks against which it would safeguard.
(5)Information provided for the purposes of paragraph (3) shall be provided to the subscriber free of any charge other than the cost to the subscriber of receiving or collecting the information.
(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Full captured verbatim text
(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a provider of a public electronic communications service (“the service provider”) shall take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the security of that service.

(1A) The measures referred to in paragraph (1) shall at least—

(a) ensure that personal data can be accessed only by authorised personnel for legally authorised purposes;

(b) protect personal data stored or transmitted against accidental or unlawful destruction, accidental loss or alteration, and unauthorised or unlawful storage, processing, access or disclosure; and

(c) ensure the implementation of a security policy with respect to the processing of personal data.

(2) If necessary, the measures required by paragraph (1) may be taken by the service provider in conjunction with the provider of the electronic communications network by means of which the service is provided, and that network provider shall comply with any reasonable requests made by the service provider for these purposes.

(3) Where, notwithstanding the taking of measures as required by paragraph (1), there remains a significant risk to the security of the public electronic communications service, the service provider shall inform the subscribers concerned of—

(a) the nature of that risk;

(b) any appropriate measures that the subscriber may take to safeguard against that risk; and

(c) the likely costs to the subscriber involved in the taking of such measures.

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (1), a measure shall only be taken to be appropriate if, having regard to—

(a) the state of technological developments, and

(b) the cost of implementing it,

it is proportionate to the risks against which it would safeguard.

(5) Information provided for the purposes of paragraph (3) shall be provided to the subscriber free of any charge other than the cost to the subscriber of receiving or collecting the information.

(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What this provision means

Model summary, checked against the text on the left.

Relevance to Signicat: 2/3 · detailed summary (L4) Status: not needed for a short provision · Stored artifact; current recipe verification unavailable

Providers of public electronic communications services must take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard service security.

Only the one-line summary above is stored for this provision; the text itself is the evidence.

Refers to

No captured references.

Referred to by

cross-reference internal_cite · reg. 5A

cross-reference internal_cite · Sch. 1 para. 18

Part summaries

0 of 0 parts have a verified summary.

L1 unavailable for current verification: the overall summary needs every part verified. Provisions and the verified summaries remain readable.

Verification findings (102)

synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 main

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:uksi/2003/2426#regulation-1

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synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 main

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synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:uksi/2003/2426#schedule-1-paragraph-29

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synthesis coverage: missing/unverified L2 schedule-2-part-1

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Instrument tier unavailable

Change history as published

Reg. 5B omitted (5.2.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 115(3), 142(1); S.I. 2026/82, reg. 2(y) (with regs. 8-11)

Reg. 31A omitted (5.2.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 115(6), 142(1); S.I. 2026/82, reg. 2(y) (with regs. 8-11)

Reg. 31B omitted (5.2.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 115(7), 142(1); S.I. 2026/82, reg. 2(y) (with regs. 8-11)

Pending effects amendments not yet applied to this text

reg. 33 words substituted by The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 Sch. 3 para. 6(6)(b)(ii) · Effective date unknown · reg. 33

reg. 33 word substituted by The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 Sch. 3 para. 6(6)(c) · Effective date unknown · reg. 33

Provenance

Every claim the system makes about this text is traceable to these identifiers.

Instrument
uk:uksi/2003/2426
Part
Version
d0dbd86454c94cdf82f0218b…
Content hash
sha256 176509ba703bec03aa67270d…
Source
legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/2426