hey are at risk of harm or are being harmed and need some form of support or protection. This includes but is not limited to: • child abuse, neglect or exploitation • situations where timely supportive intervention could prevent concerns about a child’s wellbeing from escalating • when a child is at risk of going missing or has gone missing • when multiple children appear linked to the same risk • where there may be multiple local authorities and agencies or organisations involved in the care of a child’s care 10 Children's social care: national framework - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 9 Why data protection legislation does not prevent information sharing Data protection legislation (the Data Protection Act 2018 (the DPA 2018) and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)) does not prevent the sharing of information for the purposes of safeguarding children, when it is necessary, proportionate and justified to do so. In fact, data protection legislation provides a framework which enables information sharing in that context. The first and most important consideration is always whether sharing information is likely to support the safeguarding of a child. The ICO’s A 10 step guide to sharing information to safeguard children summarises data protection considerations when sharing personal information for child safeguarding purposes.11 Understanding the term ‘lawful basis’ Under data protection law, you must have a valid lawful basis12 in order to share personal information. You must identify at least one lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR for sharing. You can use the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) Lawful Basis Interactive Tool13, the ICO’s 10 step guide or refer to the definitions in Annex A of this guidance for more help on this. The lawful bases which are