Data Protection Officer Support

Practical data protection support from people who have handled the difficult cases.

Most organisations need someone to manage their data protection requirements. This might be a full-time Data Protection Officer (DPO) but more often it’s somebody in HR or operations who already has a lot of hats to wear. What they need is the support of someone who understands data protection law, knows how it applies to their specific situation, and is available when something complicated lands on their desk.

That is what we provide. You get experienced practitioners who have handled the full range of data protection challenges, in sectors where the stakes are high, rather than an outsourced officer reading from a script.

We support your nominated data protection officer with everything from core policy writing to handling aggressive subject access requests. You get direct access to people who have handled complex cases, not a helpdesk.

Why an Outsourced Data Protection Officer is the Wrong Call

The outsourced data protection officer market is full of companies offering a named officer on paper, a shared mailbox, and a set of template policies. The Information Commissioner’s Office confirms that you can use this route.

We don’t offer that, because we think every organisation needs someone close to the work: a familiar face who understands how people actually work together and is easy to ask for advice. Not an external consultant who feels a bit faceless. We think this approach builds internal skills, so your DPO knows what questions to ask and what to look out for in every meeting and conversation in the break room. When a subject access request arrives or a breach needs reporting, this person understands what advice they need, understands the context for the organisation, and can be found around the office. Nothing gets missed and your internal team develop new skills that support their development and that of the organisation.

Many outsourced services create a false sense of security. The organisation believes it has data protection covered because someone’s name is on a register. Meanwhile, policies go unread, training does not happen, and nobody has actually mapped where personal data sits or how it moves through the organisation day to day.

We work closely enough with your organisation to understand how it actually operates, and we provide the practical support your internal team needs to handle data protection properly, not just on paper.

Real Experience Across High-Stakes Sectors

We have provided data protection support to organisations where getting it wrong has serious consequences:

• National charities: handling sensitive beneficiary data across multiple programmes, regions and funding bodies, with complex consent models and public accountability
• Domestic abuse counselling services: where data protection is literally a safeguarding issue, and a mishandled disclosure could put someone at physical risk
• Internet hosting companies: managing data processor obligations across thousands of client environments, with international data transfers, over-reaching police cybercrime enquiries and incident response at scale
• Insurance firms: navigating the intersection of data protection, financial regulation and claims handling, where subject access requests are routine and often adversarial
• Accountancy practices: protecting client financial data, managing retention obligations across tax years, and handling the particular challenges of firms that hold data on behalf of their own clients’ customers

We have sat in the rooms where these decisions get made, helping organisations work through situations where the textbook answer fell short.

The Difficult Cases

Routine data protection is straightforward. The value of experienced support shows when things get complicated:

Malicious Subject Access Requests

Not every subject access request is a genuine exercise of data rights. Some are tactical, filed by former employees building a tribunal case, by competitors fishing for commercial information, or by individuals attempting to identify witnesses in complaints processes. We have experience identifying these situations, applying exemptions correctly, and responding in a way that meets your legal obligations without handing over material that could cause harm.

Complex HR Cases

Disciplinary proceedings, grievances, whistleblowing, redundancy: all of these generate personal data that sits at the intersection of employment law and data protection. Getting the balance wrong can undermine a fair process or expose the organisation to complaints. We help your HR team understand what they can share, what they must withhold, and how to document their decisions.

Breach Response

When a breach happens, the 72-hour reporting clock starts immediately. We help you assess severity, determine whether notification is required, draft your Information Commissioner’s Office report, and manage communications with affected individuals, calmly and accurately, not in a panic.