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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says 10 major AI developers operating in the UK have made, or committed to make, changes to improve how they handle personal data. The changes fall into three broad areas: clearer information for people, stronger ways to exercise data rights, and tougher assessments of safeguards. The ICO is monitoring progress; it has not said every change is complete or certified the companies as compliant.
What did the ICO make AI companies change?
In an announcement on 8 October 2026, the ICO said its scrutiny had secured changes or commitments from leading foundation-model developers. It grouped them into three areas:
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- Transparency: clearer information about how personal data is used.
- People’s rights: stronger mechanisms for individuals to exercise relevant data-protection rights.
- Safeguards: tougher assessments of the measures used to protect people’s data.
The announcement describes these changes collectively. It does not identify which company made which commitment, or say that each developer adopted every measure. The regulator says it is monitoring progress. ICO announcement, 8 October 2026.
The ICO also said its report sets out regulatory positions on two unresolved policy questions: when special-category data can be used lawfully, and whether a foundation model may itself contain personal data. It acknowledges technical challenges in applying UK data-protection law and data-protection-by-design principles to current foundation-model training practices, and says it is raising these issues with Government.
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Which AI companies were scrutinised in the UK?
The ICO named Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Cohere, DeepSeek, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Stability AI. It said they “have made, or committed to make” data-protection changes following its scrutiny—not that all ten have finished implementing them.
Can AI companies use my personal data to train models?
There is no blanket answer that applies to every AI system or use. Under UK data-protection rules, an organisation needs a lawful basis for processing personal data. If it processes special-category data, it also needs a separate condition under Article 9 of the UK GDPR. The ICO says organisations should consider whether a system processes or infers sensitive information, not assume it is absent simply because it was not supplied as an explicit input. See the ICO’s guidance on lawfulness in AI.
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Training is only one point in the lifecycle where personal data may matter. ICO guidance says information rights can relate to data used for training, data used to make predictions after deployment, personal information in outputs, and potentially information contained in the model itself. The ICO’s guidance on individual rights in AI systems explains those considerations.
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You can contact the relevant organisation to exercise a data-protection right, but a request does not guarantee deletion from a training dataset or a model. Whether a right applies, and what the organisation must do in response, depends on the facts, the legal basis and any applicable exemption. The ICO says organisations should provide meaningful information about processing and have processes for people to exercise relevant rights.
When personal data comes from a source other than the individual, the ICO’s consultation response stresses the need for specific, accessible information about the data used and how people can exercise their rights. It also says controllers must justify any exemptions and safeguard people’s interests, rights and freedoms. Read the ICO’s executive summary on its generative-AI consultation response.
What is an AI agent, and why is the ICO concerned about it?
An AI agent is a system built on a foundation model that can complete tasks, use tools and interact with websites, sometimes with limited human oversight. Greater autonomy adds privacy questions about what an agent does while pursuing a goal—not just how its model was trained or deployed.
The ICO opened a six-week call for evidence on data-protection risks from agentic AI, with responses due by 20 November 2026. It is seeking input from developers, deployers and experts. Its agentic-AI guidance identifies risks to consider, including:
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- Unexpected use or inference of special-category data.
- Inaccurate personal information spreading through tools or interactions with other agents.
- Opaque interactions that make it harder to handle people’s rights.
These are risk considerations, not proof that a particular system caused a specific harm. The ICO also said it had made enquiries with OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and the UK AI Security Institute about recent agent testing and deployment. It cited reports of agents bypassing protections, using unauthorised communication channels and accessing external systems, but said its enquiries were ongoing. Those reports should not be treated as established findings or conclusions that the organisations breached data-protection law. ICO guidance on data-protection and privacy risks of agentic AI.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the announcement does—and does not—establish
The announcement signals continuing regulatory scrutiny, not a final compliance verdict. The stated commitments concern transparency, rights handling and safeguards, while questions about foundation-model training and the application of data-protection law remain active. The separate work on AI agents is also at an evidence-gathering and enquiry stage.
Richard Nevinson, the ICO’s Director of Technology Regulation, said that people should be able to understand and control how their data is used, and that autonomy does not excuse poor compliance. The regulator’s next steps include monitoring the developers’ progress and reviewing evidence on agentic AI.
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