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Outsourced DPO

Outsourced Data Protection Officer (DPO) Services

Reduce regulatory risk and avoid the cost to hire a DPO in-house with Privacy Helper’s outsourced Data Protection Officer services. Led by certified experts (CIPP/E, C-DPO), we provide ongoing data protection support, rapid breach response and dedicated ICO liaison aligned to your business needs. Find out how we can help your organisation today.

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Data protection expertise trusted by hundreds of organisations.

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A Named DPO, Not A Helpdesk

Appointing a full-time, in-house Data Protection Officer is a significant financial liability that many organisations simply do not require. True data protection compliance requires specialist legal and technical expertise, but it rarely demands a 40-hour work week. Privacy Helper’s DPO as a Service model provides a highly sophisticated, fractional solution. You secure immediate access to a senior, certified privacy expert tailored precisely to your operational scale, allowing you to transform unpredictable internal overheads into a predictable operating expense.

A common mistake is appointing an existing internal manager such as an IT Director, Head of HR or Chief Operating Officer, to act as DPO. Article 38(6) of the UK GDPR requires that a DPO’s other duties must not result in a conflict of interest, and someone who decides how data is processed cannot then independently audit that same processing. The ICO flags IT, HR and operations leads as the roles most likely to fall foul of this. Using an external DPO removes the conflict entirely. We work alongside your executive team, take on the formal cooperation with the ICO and give you an independent position you can evidence in an audit or a client’s procurement questionnaire.

In-House vs Outsourced DPO Comparison

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Governance Criteria	In-House Full-Time DPO	Internal Manager (IT/HR)	Privacy Helper Outsourced DPO
Annual Cost Overhead	£35,000-£80,000 salary, plus employer NI at 15% and pension	No new salary, but privacy work competes with the day job	Fixed monthly retainer, from half a day of DPO time per month
Article 38 GDPR Compliance	Compliant	Conflict of interest under Art. 38(6)	Independent by design
Expertise & Qualifications	One person’s experience, from one sector	Limited privacy depth	Certified Team (CIPP/E, C-DPO Practitioners)
Absence & Holiday Cover	Single point of failure	No backup cover	Two named DPOs, both briefed on your data

Salary range based on UK Data Protection Officer vacancies advertised on Reed, 2026. Employer National Insurance is 15% from April 2025.

Offload Your Daily GDPR Work

Primary & Secondary DPO Support

You’re assigned a primary and a secondary DPO at onboarding. Your primary DPO does the day-to-day work such as board meetings, ICO filings, vendor DPA reviews and DPIA sign-off. Your secondary DPO sits in on your onboarding review and gets a copy of your RoPA, breach log and current risk register, so they’re briefed before they’re ever needed rather than at the point of crisis.

If your primary is on leave when a breach lands, your secondary picks it up the same day, at no extra cost. With one in-house DPO, that 72-hour clock runs whether or not they’re at their desk.

What we take off your plate

We do the work rather than hand you a list of recommendations. Day to day, that means your DPO manages:

Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs)
Handling data breaches and ICO reporting
Conducting Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)
Reviewing supplier and third-party data risks
Maintaining Records of Processing Activities (RoPA)
Advising on privacy policies and governance frameworks
Supporting internal GDPR training and awareness

How we work

Audit & Gap Analysis

We assess your policies, processes and data touchpoints. Your contract DPO maps current data flows to identify compliance vulnerabilities and build a custom risk-reduction roadmap.

Threat & Breach Management

We implement rapid data breach containment protocols and execute thorough Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) on high-risk software, vendors and tech integrations.

Culture & Policy Deployment

We update your formal documentation to satisfy UK GDPR standards and deliver targeted internal training sessions so your staff can manage personal data safely and confidently.

Continuous Strategic Guidance

Your dedicated DPO provides ongoing support, reviews security audits, answers day-to-day internal queries and delivers risk-based advice to help your business grow safely.

Urgent 72-Hour Data Breach & ICO Support

When a personal data breach occurs, the UK GDPR mandates that your organisation must assess risk, contain the exposure and formally report the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours. Failing to meet this window can dramatically escalate financial penalties and corporate liabilities. The clock starts when you become aware of the breach, not when you finish investigating it. Here’s how we work through the first 72 hours:

Crisis Response Roadmap (72-Hours)

Assess – We establish what data was involved, how many people are affected and the likely harm to them.
Contain – Practical steps to stop the exposure spreading, agreed with your IT lead.
Report – We run the Article 33 threshold test, document the reasoning either way, and file with the ICO if it’s reportable.
Mitigate – We draft the Article 34 notification to affected individuals where the risk threshold requires it.

Crucially, the 72 hours starts when you become aware of the breach, not when you finish investigating. Most of the trouble we’re called into is organisations that spent the first two days deciding whether it counted.

Secure Emergency Breach Support Now

Why organisations choose us

Compliance work tends to lose out to whatever’s more urgent that week. That’s the gap we fill. Here are the key benefits of our contract DPO service:

A straight answer, in writing – You’ll get a documented position you can show the ICO or a client’s procurement team, not “it depends”.
Breach support inside the 72 hours – We assess severity, help you contain it, run the Article 33 threshold decision and file with the ICO if it’s reportable.
Fewer surprises at audit – Your RoPA, DPIAs and vendor DPAs stay current, rather than being rebuilt in a panic when someone asks for them.
Support that flexes with you – New product, new market, new processor, we review it before launch, not after a complaint.
Procurement-ready evidence – The DPIAs and supplier assessments an enterprise buyer’s security questionnaire asks for, ready when the deal needs them.
Cover when your DPO is away – A second named DPO who already knows your processing, at no extra cost.

Sectors we work in

Every sector carries a different privacy risk. Here’s where we most often act as DPO, and what we’re usually dealing with:

Casinos – self-exclusion records, AML data retention and Gambling Commission duties running alongside UK GDPR.
Charities – donor databases, wealth screening and consent records that hold up without stalling fundraising.
Facilities Management – CCTV, access control and contractor data across multi-site and client-owned premises.
Finance and Accounting – client financial records, retention schedules and FCA obligations sitting on top of data protection law.
Healthcare – special category health data, clinical record-keeping and NHS information governance requirements.
Gyms & Leisure Centres – health questionnaires, biometric entry systems and membership marketing consent.
HR & Recruitment – candidate data, vetting and background checks and DSARs from unsuccessful applicants or ex-employees.
Retail & E-Commerce – tracking pixels, consent banners, loyalty data and payment processing paths.
Schools – pupil and safeguarding records, and subject access requests from separated parents.
SaaS – privacy by design, sub-processor chains and getting through enterprise security questionnaires without losing the deal

Not listed? We work across most regulated and data-heavy sectors. Tell us what you process and we’ll tell you what you need.

Outsourced DPO: your questions answered

What does an Outsourced Data Protection Officer do?

An Outsourced DPO acts as your designated compliance leader. They monitor UK GDPR adherence, conduct DPIAs, handle DSARs, train staff, manage data breach responses and act as your official liaison with the ICO.

How much does an Outsourced DPO cost in the UK?

Outsourced DPO services are usually priced on the time your organisation actually needs, rather than a fixed package. Ours start at half a day per month for smaller organisations, scaling with headcount, the volume of special category data you process and your expected DSAR volume. It’s a fixed monthly retainer agreed up front and there are no per-incident charges when a breach or DSAR lands.

Is this suitable for a small or medium sized business?

Absolutely. Most small and medium-sized enterprises handle complex customer or employee datasets but cannot justify the massive overhead of a permanent, full-time compliance hire. An outsourced DPO provides SMEs with right-sized access to executive-level privacy expertise and risk mitigation in a highly cost-effective framework.

Do I legally require a mandatory or voluntary Data Protection Officer?

Under Article 37 of the GDPR, a DPO is a statutory requirement if you are a public body, perform large-scale systematic tracking, or process special category datasets. However, many firms voluntarily appoint Privacy Helper as their contract DPO simply to pass strict enterprise procurement checks and win major commercial contracts.

Does the Data (Use and Access) Act eliminate our need for an outsourced DPO?

No. While the DUAA introduces the internal Senior Responsible Individual (SRI) to ensure board-level accountability, most senior executives do not have the time or technical expertise to manage daily compliance. The Act specifically allows the SRI to delegate operational data protection duties to external specialists.

Can an external organisation legally act as our named DPO in the UK?

Yes. Under Article 37(6) of the UK GDPR, an organisation may fulfil the DPO role on the basis of a service contract, provided the external practitioner possesses specialised professional qualities and operates without conflicts of interest.

What is the difference between a Senior Responsible Individual (SRI) and an Outsourced DPO?

Under the UK Data (Use and Access) Act, the SRI is an internal executive held accountable at board level. Because executives rarely have hands-on privacy expertise, the SRI routinely delegates daily compliance execution, ICO liaison and DPIAs to an external, specialist Outsourced DPO.

Why can't our IT Director or HR Lead take on the role?

Under Article 38 of the UK GDPR, appointing an internal manager who determines data processing goals breaches Article 38(6), because they’d be auditing processing decisions they made themselves. An external DPO removes the conflict entirely.