As last captured

Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 ·

5A Personal data breach

reg. 5A · in force: yes

Captured statutory text (L5)

5A Personal data breach

(1)In this regulation and in regulations 5B and 5C, “service provider” has the meaning given in regulation 5(1).
(2)If a personal data breach occurs, the service provider shall, without undue delay and, where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of it, notify that breach to the Information Commission.
(3)Subject to paragraph (6), if a personal data breach is likely to adversely affect the personal data or privacy of a subscriber or user, the service provider shall also, without undue delay, notify that breach to the subscriber or user concerned.
(3A)Where notification under paragraph (2) is not made within 72 hours, it must be accompanied by reasons for the delay.
(4)The notification referred to in paragraph (2) shall contain at least a description of—
(a)the nature of the breach;
(b)the consequences of the breach; and
(c)the measures taken or proposed to be taken by the provider to address the breach.
(5)The notification referred to the paragraph (3) shall contain at least—
(a)a description of the nature of the breach;
(b)information about contact points within the service provider’s organisation from which more information may be obtained; and
(c)recommendations of measures to allow the subscriber to mitigate the possible adverse impacts of the breach.
(6)The notification referred to in paragraph (3) is not required if the service provider has demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the Information Commission that—
(a)it has implemented appropriate technological protection measures which render the data unintelligible to any person who is not authorised to access it, and
(b)that those measures were applied to the data concerned in that breach.
(7)If the service provider has not notified the subscriber or user in compliance with paragraph (3), the Information Commission may, having considered the likely adverse effects of the breach, require it to do so.
(8)Service providers shall maintain an inventory of personal data breaches comprising —
(a)the facts surrounding the breach,
(b)the effects of that breach, and
(c)remedial action taken
which shall be sufficient to enable the Information Commission to verify compliance with the provisions of this regulation. The inventory shall only include information necessary for this purpose.
(9). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Full captured verbatim text
(1) In this regulation and in regulations 5B and 5C, “service provider” has the meaning given in regulation 5(1).

(2) If a personal data breach occurs, the service provider shall, without undue delay and, where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of it, notify that breach to the Information Commission.

(3) Subject to paragraph (6), if a personal data breach is likely to adversely affect the personal data or privacy of a subscriber or user, the service provider shall also, without undue delay, notify that breach to the subscriber or user concerned.

(3A) Where notification under paragraph (2) is not made within 72 hours, it must be accompanied by reasons for the delay.

(4) The notification referred to in paragraph (2) shall contain at least a description of—

(a) the nature of the breach;

(b) the consequences of the breach; and

(c) the measures taken or proposed to be taken by the provider to address the breach.

(5) The notification referred to the paragraph (3) shall contain at least—

(a) a description of the nature of the breach;

(b) information about contact points within the service provider’s organisation from which more information may be obtained; and

(c) recommendations of measures to allow the subscriber to mitigate the possible adverse impacts of the breach.

(6) The notification referred to in paragraph (3) is not required if the service provider has demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the Information Commission that—

(a) it has implemented appropriate technological protection measures which render the data unintelligible to any person who is not authorised to access it, and

(b) that those measures were applied to the data concerned in that breach.

(7) If the service provider has not notified the subscriber or user in compliance with paragraph (3), the Information Commission may, having considered the likely adverse effects of the breach, require it to do so.

(8) Service providers shall maintain an inventory of personal data breaches comprising —

(a) the facts surrounding the breach,

(b) the effects of that breach, and

(c) remedial action taken

which shall be sufficient to enable the Information Commission to verify compliance with the provisions of this regulation. The inventory shall only include information necessary for this purpose.

(9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What this provision means

Model summary, checked against the text on the left.

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

Service providers must notify breaches to the Information Commission within 72 hours, notify affected users, and maintain a breach inventory.

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

Refers to

cross-reference internal_cite · reg. 5

cross-reference internal_cite · reg. 5B

cross-reference internal_cite · reg. 5C

Referred to by

cross-reference internal_cite · reg. 5C

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 evaluation uk:uksi/2003/2426#regulation-5B

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:uksi/2003/2426#regulation-5C

synthesis coverage: missing evaluation uk:uksi/2003/2426#regulation-6

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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 299e25cbf34a8b013a9438fa…
Source
legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/2426