Published 13 November 2026.
Most business archives — emails, job files, quotes, chats, customer records — contain information about identifiable people: staff, customers, suppliers, and sometimes members of the public. If you are thinking about licensing a copy of those records, UK data protection law is part of the picture.
McKays introduces UK and Irish businesses to vetted buyers. We don’t take the archive, and we don’t decide the legal basis for a licence. That sits with you, your adviser, and the agreement you make with the buyer. Sellers pay nothing for that introduction. How we’re paid.
The law in brief
In the UK, the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 apply when an organisation processes personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK regulator. The ICO’s guidance is the starting point for most owners, and we link to it below rather than restating it as if it were ours.
The ICO’s guide puts it simply: personal data is information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual. A name can be enough, but so can other identifiers, and information can still identify someone when it is combined with other details. If you cannot name a person from a file on its own, that does not automatically mean the file is outside the law. See the ICO’s guide, What is personal information?.
Anonymisation is a high bar
If information is effectively anonymised, so that the risk of identifying someone is sufficiently remote, it may no longer be personal data. That is a factual judgement, not a label you can apply by stripping out a column of names. The ICO’s anonymisation guidance, published on 28 March 2025, discusses techniques, identifiability and good practice. The ICO has also noted that, because of changes made by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, this guidance is under review and may change.
The ICO describes a “motivated intruder” test as a useful starting point when you assess identifiability: what could a reasonably competent, motivated person do with the information and other resources they could reasonably get? See How do we ensure anonymisation is effective?. We don’t run that test for you, and we don’t promise that any archive can be made anonymous. How personal and confidential information is handled is agreed, in writing, between you and the buyer, before anything is shared. More in preparing records and on trust and rights.
A lawful basis, if personal data is involved
If a licence involves personal data, the organisation that is processing it needs a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Which basis fits — if any — depends on the records, the purpose and the circumstances. That is a question for you and your adviser, not a decision McKays makes. The ICO’s guide to lawful basis is the official explanation.
Our ICO registration
McKays is a trading name of Marcias Limited. Marcias Limited is registered with the ICO, registration ZB473702. Under the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, organisations that use personal information generally need to pay a data protection fee and appear on the ICO’s register, unless they are exempt. That is a legal requirement. It is not a certification, kitemark or endorsement of our service by the ICO. See the ICO’s page on the data protection fee.
If your business is in Ireland
We work with businesses in the Republic of Ireland as well as the UK. Irish firms are covered by the EU GDPR and by the Irish Data Protection Commission, not the ICO. The broad ideas are similar; the detail is not identical. See licensing records from Ireland.
Sources
- ICO: What is personal information?
- ICO: Anonymisation guidance (published 28 March 2025; the ICO notes it is under review)
- ICO: How do we ensure anonymisation is effective?
- ICO: A guide to lawful basis
- ICO: Data protection fee
- Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, on legislation.gov.uk
Related: re-identification and UK law, are you free to license these records?, and our guides index.
This page is general information, not legal advice. It isn’t a ruling on any case. Please speak to your own adviser about your situation.
Sellers pay nothing. The first look is free. How we’re paid.