If you have determined that your organisation needs to get prior authorisation, the next question is how do you apply?
Who do you send the application form for prior authorisation to?
It is like applying for your license – you have to apply to the regulator, who will assess you and within about 4 weeks, they’ll tell you whether you have been given a license or not.
Applying is the easy part. You just have to email the application form to the regulator. Email it, don’t post it. Make sure you get an acknowledgement from the regulator that they have received it and file it safely in more than one place.
How do you complete the application form?
The hard part is completing the application form. The information regulator has released an editable pdf but it is still quite hard to know how to complete it correctly. We’ve created an editable version to make your life easier and this is included in our data protection programme. You will want multiple people to review it and you’ll want each person to be able to track their changes.
Who should sign the application form?
In our view, the default information officer (not the designated or delegated one) should sign the form. The default officer is accountable to the regulator and is the one that the law specifies as being the information officer by default. Applying for prior authorisation is an important task and should be done by the highest level information officer.
The application form for prior authorisation requires the information officer’s registration number. But what if you don’t have it? This might be because you are waiting for the regulator to fix their electronic platform. You should apply without it and just state – “Waiting for electronic platform”.
Action you can take
- Complete the application form yourself by joining our data protection programme and working through the module called getting prior authorisation from the information regulator.
- Check that you have correctly completed the application form by asking Michalsons to check it.
- Have Michalsons complete the application form for you by asking for a quote.