Section 17 — Data Protection Act 2018: Accreditation of certification providers

Accreditation of certification providers 17 1 Accreditation of a person as a certification provider is only valid when carried out by—

a the Commissioner, or b the UK national accreditation body .

2 The Commissioner may only accredit a person as a certification provider where the Commissioner—

a has published a statement that the Commissioner will carry out such accreditation, and b has not published a notice withdrawing that statement.

3 The UK national accreditation body may only accredit a person as a certification provider where the Commissioner—

a has published a statement that the body may carry out such accreditation, and b has not published a notice withdrawing that statement.

4 The publication of a notice under subsection (2)(b) or (3)(b) does not affect the validity of any accreditation carried out before its publication.

5 Schedule 5 makes provision about reviews of, and appeals from, a decision relating to accreditation of a person as a certification provider.

6 The UK national accreditation body may charge a reasonable fee in connection with, or incidental to, the carrying out of the body's functions under this section, Schedule 5 and Article 43 of the UK GDPR .

7 The UK national accreditation body must provide the Secretary of State with such information relating to its functions under this section, Schedule 5 and Article 43 of the UK GDPR as the Secretary of State may reasonably require.

8 In this section— “ certification provider ” means a person who issues certification for the purposes of Article 42 of the UK GDPR ; “ the ” means the UK national accreditation body UK national accreditation body for the purposes of Article 4(1) of Regulation ( of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation EC ) No 765/2008 ( . EEC ) No 339/93