ICO Consults on Draft Anonymisation and Pseudonymisation Guidance
Key Takeaways
- 01The ICO is consulting on draft guidance for anonymisation and pseudonymisation in research, archiving and statistical work.
- 02The consultation was published on 24 August 2026 and closes on 19 October 2026.
- 03The draft addresses methods for reducing the ability to identify individuals in data used for these purposes.
- 04Research bodies, archives, statistical organisations and other data users should assess the draft guidance against their current data-handling controls.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has opened a consultation on draft guidance covering anonymisation and pseudonymisation for research, archiving and statistical purposes. The consultation was published on 24 August 2026 and closes on 19 October 2026.
The guidance is intended to address how organisations can use techniques that reduce the identifiability of individuals when processing personal data for these purposes. Anonymisation aims to make individuals no longer identifiable, while pseudonymisation replaces or removes direct identifiers but generally remains personal-data processing where re-identification is possible.
Organisations involved in research, archival work or statistics should review the draft guidance and consider whether their current data-governance, disclosure-control and re-identification-risk practices align with the ICO’s proposed approach. Stakeholders that may be affected can submit consultation responses before the October deadline.