Resources

Adult Safeguarding Toolkit

The Data Protection Commission’s Regulatory Strategy 2022 – 2027 prioritises the protection of children and other vulnerable groups. In line with this priority, the DPC aims to ensure that organisations working with, supporting or otherwise engaging with at-risk adults have a better understanding of data protection rights and the legal bases upon which personal data can be shared.

To support this goal, the DPC has engaged with relevant stakeholders (including advocacy groups, service providers across the public, private, voluntary sectors, and other relevant regulatory bodies) in order to identify data protection issues arising in the context of adult safeguarding. In response, the DPC has developed targeted guidance in the format of the Adult Safeguarding Toolkit. The toolkit includes;

A detailed guidance piece on different aspects of data protection law in the specific context of Adult Safeguarding
An FAQ section containing answers to questions commonly received by the DPC from the health sector
An appendix containing helpful resources for organisations with at-risk adults, including:
- Conducting a Balancing Exercise (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR)
- How to write a Data Protection Policy ('Privacy Policy')
- A sample template for Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)

Image of the Adult Safeguarding Toolkit guidance document — The Adult Safeguarding Toolkit is now available to download (9.8MB, PDF).

The DPC has also produced a variety of infographics based on the Adult Safeguarding Toolkit, which you can view or download by clicking on the images below:

AST_Consent-and-Sharing-Data-Not-Always-Required-for-Adult-Safeguarding_EN.png — Consent and sharing data: Not always required for adult safeguarding (3.2MB, PDF)

Considerations for a risk-based assessment (1.6MB, PDF)

AST_Considerations-for-data-controllers-before-sharing-data_EN.png — Considerations for data controllers before sharing data (1.5MB, PDF)

AST_Private-to-Public-Sharing-Safeguarding-Information_EN.png — Private to Public: Sharing Safeguarding Information (3.9MB, PDF)

AST_Sharing-Personal-Information-Between-Organisations-What-You-Need-to-Know_EN.png — Sharing Personal Information Between Organisations: What You Need to Know (2.6MB, PDF)

AST_Sharing-Sensitive-Data-including-Article-10-Data_EN.png — Sharing Sensitive Data, including Article 10 Data (3.7MB, PDF)

AST_The-Balancing-Act-Sharing-Data-for-Safeguarding_EN.png — The “Balancing Act”: Sharing Data for Safeguarding (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)) (2.3MB, PDF)