ICO - New guidance on recognised legitimate interest

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) published new guidance on the new recognised legitimate interests lawful basis, introduced under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. This guidance provides organisations with a new lawful basis for certain limited processing activities deemed to be in the public interest, without requiring the usual balancing test associated with the standard legitimate interest.

Some of the key points addressed by the guidance are:

• Recognised legitimate interests apply only to specific prescribed purposes set out in legislation;
• Organisations must still demonstrate that processing is necessary and comply with wider UK GDPR obligations, including transparency and accountability; and
• This is a separate basis from the standards legitimate interests, rather than a replacement for it.