diff --git a/privacy/classes/manager.php b/privacy/classes/manager.php
index a41f4cb5faf..fac8c85abca 100644
--- a/privacy/classes/manager.php
+++ b/privacy/classes/manager.php
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ use core_privacy\local\metadata\collection;
 use core_privacy\local\metadata\null_provider;
 use core_privacy\local\request\context_aware_provider;
 use core_privacy\local\request\contextlist_collection;
-use core_privacy\local\request\core_data_provider;
 use core_privacy\local\request\core_user_data_provider;
 use core_privacy\local\request\data_provider;
 use core_privacy\local\request\user_preference_provider;
@@ -110,6 +109,21 @@ defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
  * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
  */
 class manager {
+
+    /**
+     * @var manager_observer Observer.
+     */
+    protected $observer;
+
+    /**
+     * Set the failure handler.
+     *
+     * @param   manager_observer $observer
+     */
+    public function set_observer(manager_observer $observer) {
+        $this->observer = $observer;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Checks whether the given component is compliant with the core_privacy API.
      * To be considered compliant, a component must declare whether (and where) it stores personal data.
@@ -152,7 +166,8 @@ class manager {
      */
     public function get_null_provider_reason($component) {
         if ($this->component_implements($component, null_provider::class)) {
-            return static::component_class_callback($component, null_provider::class, 'get_reason', []);
+            $reason = $this->handled_component_class_callback($component, null_provider::class, 'get_reason', []);
+            return empty($reason) ? 'privacy:reason' : $reason;
         } else {
             throw new \coding_exception('Call to undefined method', 'Please only call this method on a null provider.');
         }
@@ -184,7 +199,7 @@ class manager {
         // Get the metadata, and put into an assoc array indexed by component name.
         $metadata = [];
         foreach ($this->get_component_list() as $component) {
-            $componentmetadata = static::component_class_callback($component, metadata_provider::class,
+            $componentmetadata = $this->handled_component_class_callback($component, metadata_provider::class,
                 'get_metadata', [new collection($component)]);
             if ($componentmetadata !== null) {
                 $metadata[$component] = $componentmetadata;
@@ -196,6 +211,7 @@ class manager {
     /**
      * Gets a collection of resultset objects for all components.
      *
+     *
      * @param int $userid the id of the user we're fetching contexts for.
      * @return contextlist_collection the collection of contextlist items for the respective components.
      */
@@ -217,7 +233,7 @@ class manager {
             $a->progress++;
             $a->datetime = userdate(time());
             $progress->output(get_string('trace:processingcomponent', 'core_privacy', $a), 2);
-            $contextlist = static::component_class_callback($component, core_user_data_provider::class,
+            $contextlist = $this->handled_component_class_callback($component, core_user_data_provider::class,
                 'get_contexts_for_userid', [$userid]);
             if ($contextlist === null) {
                 $contextlist = new local\request\contextlist();
@@ -278,7 +294,7 @@ class manager {
                 if (count($approvedcontextlist)) {
                     // This plugin has data it knows about. It is responsible for storing basic data about anything it is
                     // told to export.
-                    static::component_class_callback($component, core_user_data_provider::class,
+                    $this->handled_component_class_callback($component, core_user_data_provider::class,
                         'export_user_data', [$approvedcontextlist]);
                 }
             } else if (!$this->component_implements($component, context_aware_provider::class)) {
@@ -300,12 +316,12 @@ class manager {
             $a->datetime = userdate(time());
             $progress->output(get_string('trace:processingcomponent', 'core_privacy', $a), 2);
             // Core user preference providers.
-            static::component_class_callback($component, user_preference_provider::class,
+            $this->handled_component_class_callback($component, user_preference_provider::class,
                 'export_user_preferences', [$contextlistcollection->get_userid()]);
 
             // Contextual information providers. Give each component a chance to include context information based on the
             // existence of a child context in the contextlist_collection.
-            static::component_class_callback($component, context_aware_provider::class,
+            $this->handled_component_class_callback($component, context_aware_provider::class,
                 'export_context_data', [$contextlistcollection]);
         }
         $progress->output(get_string('trace:done', 'core_privacy'), 1);
@@ -354,7 +370,7 @@ class manager {
             if (count($approvedcontextlist)) {
                 // The component knows about data that it has.
                 // Have it delete its own data.
-                static::component_class_callback($approvedcontextlist->get_component(), core_user_data_provider::class,
+                $this->handled_component_class_callback($approvedcontextlist->get_component(), core_user_data_provider::class,
                     'delete_data_for_user', [$approvedcontextlist]);
             }
 
@@ -389,7 +405,7 @@ class manager {
 
             // If this component knows about specific data that it owns,
             // have it delete all of that user data for the context.
-            static::component_class_callback($component, core_user_data_provider::class,
+            $this->handled_component_class_callback($component, core_user_data_provider::class,
                 'delete_data_for_all_users_in_context', [$context]);
 
             // Delete any shared user data it doesn't know about.
@@ -496,4 +512,45 @@ class manager {
 
         return new \text_progress_trace();
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Call the named method with the specified params on the supplied component if it implements the relevant interface
+     * on its provider.
+     *
+     * @param   string  $component The component to call
+     * @param   string  $interface The interface to implement
+     * @param   string  $methodname The method to call
+     * @param   array   $params The params to call
+     * @return  mixed
+     */
+    protected function handled_component_class_callback($component, $interface, $methodname, array $params) {
+        try {
+            return static::component_class_callback($component, $interface, $methodname, $params);
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            debugging($e->getMessage(), DEBUG_DEVELOPER, $e->getTrace());
+            $this->component_class_callback_failed($e, $component, $interface, $methodname, $params);
+
+            return null;
+        } catch (\Error $e) {
+            debugging($e->getMessage(), DEBUG_DEVELOPER, $e->getTrace());
+            $this->component_class_callback_failed($e, $component, $interface, $methodname, $params);
+
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Notifies the observer of any failure.
+     *
+     * @param \Throwable $e
+     * @param string $component
+     * @param string $interface
+     * @param string $methodname
+     * @param array $params
+     */
+    protected function component_class_callback_failed($e, $component, $interface, $methodname, array $params) {
+        if ($this->observer) {
+            call_user_func_array([$this->observer, 'handle_component_failure'], func_get_args());
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/privacy/classes/manager_observer.php b/privacy/classes/manager_observer.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b1d78477612
--- /dev/null
+++ b/privacy/classes/manager_observer.php
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/**
+ * This file contains the interface required to observe failures in the manager.
+ *
+ * @package core_privacy
+ * @copyright 2018 Andrew Nicols <andrew@nicols.co.uk>
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+namespace core_privacy;
+
+defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
+
+/**
+ * The interface for a Manager observer.
+ *
+ * @package core_privacy
+ * @copyright 2018 Andrew Nicols <andrew@nicols.co.uk>
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+interface manager_observer {
+
+    /**
+     * Handle failure of a component.
+     *
+     * @param \Throwable $e
+     * @param string $component
+     * @param string $interface
+     * @param string $methodname
+     * @param array $params
+     */
+    public function handle_component_failure($e, $component, $interface, $methodname, array $params);
+}
diff --git a/privacy/tests/fixtures/provider_a.php b/privacy/tests/fixtures/provider_a.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..56c9b42b8d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/privacy/tests/fixtures/provider_a.php
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/**
+ * Test provider which works.
+ *
+ * @package core_privacy
+ * @copyright 2018 Andrew Nicols <andrew@nicols.co.uk>
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+
+namespace mod_component_a\privacy;
+
+defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
+
+use core_privacy\local\metadata\collection;
+use core_privacy\local\request\contextlist;
+use core_privacy\local\request\approved_contextlist;
+
+/**
+ * Mock core_user_data_provider for unit tests.
+ *
+ * @package core_privacy
+ * @copyright 2018 Andrew Nicols <andrew@nicols.co.uk>
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+class provider implements
+        \core_privacy\local\metadata\provider,
+        \core_privacy\local\request\plugin\provider {
+
+    /**
+     * Get metadata.
+     *
+     * @param   collection     $collection The initialised collection to add items to.
+     * @return  collection     A listing of user data stored through this system.
+     */
+    public static function get_metadata(collection $collection) {
+        $collection->add_subsystem_link('core_files');
+        return $collection;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the list of contexts that contain user information for the specified user.
+     *
+     * @param   int         $userid     The user to search.
+     * @return  contextlist   $contextlist  The contextlist containing the list of contexts used in this plugin.
+     */
+    public static function get_contexts_for_userid($userid) {
+        $c = new \core_privacy\local\request\contextlist();
+        $c->add_system_context();
+
+        return $c;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Export all user data for the specified user, in the specified contexts.
+     *
+     * @param   approved_contextlist    $contextlist    The approved contexts to export information for.
+     */
+    public static function export_user_data(approved_contextlist $contextlist) {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Delete all data for all users in the specified context.
+     *
+     * @param   context                 $context   The specific context to delete data for.
+     */
+    public static function delete_data_for_all_users_in_context(\context $context) {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Delete all user data for the specified user, in the specified contexts.
+     *
+     * @param   approved_contextlist    $contextlist    The approved contexts and user information to delete information for.
+     */
+    public static function delete_data_for_user(approved_contextlist $contextlist) {
+    }
+}
diff --git a/privacy/tests/fixtures/provider_throwing_exception.php b/privacy/tests/fixtures/provider_throwing_exception.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7fd1d3ee1e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/privacy/tests/fixtures/provider_throwing_exception.php
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/**
+ * Test provider which has issues.
+ *
+ * @package core_privacy
+ * @copyright 2018 Andrew Nicols <andrew@nicols.co.uk>
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+
+namespace mod_component_broken\privacy;
+
+use core_privacy\local\metadata\collection;
+use core_privacy\local\request\contextlist;
+use core_privacy\local\request\approved_contextlist;
+
+/**
+ * Mock core_user_data_provider for unit tests.
+ *
+ * @package core_privacy
+ * @copyright 2018 Andrew Nicols <andrew@nicols.co.uk>
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+class provider implements
+        \core_privacy\local\metadata\provider,
+        \core_privacy\local\request\plugin\provider {
+
+    /**
+     * Get metadata.
+     *
+     * @param   collection     $collection The initialised collection to add items to.
+     * @return  collection     A listing of user data stored through this system.
+     */
+    public static function get_metadata(collection $collection) {
+        throw new \coding_exception(__FUNCTION__);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the list of contexts that contain user information for the specified user.
+     *
+     * @param   int         $userid     The user to search.
+     * @return  contextlist   $contextlist  The contextlist containing the list of contexts used in this plugin.
+     */
+    public static function get_contexts_for_userid($userid) {
+        throw new \coding_exception(__FUNCTION__);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Export all user data for the specified user, in the specified contexts.
+     *
+     * @param   approved_contextlist    $contextlist    The approved contexts to export information for.
+     */
+    public static function export_user_data(approved_contextlist $contextlist) {
+        throw new \coding_exception(__FUNCTION__);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Delete all data for all users in the specified context.
+     *
+     * @param   context                 $context   The specific context to delete data for.
+     */
+    public static function delete_data_for_all_users_in_context(\context $context) {
+        throw new \coding_exception(__FUNCTION__);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Delete all user data for the specified user, in the specified contexts.
+     *
+     * @param   approved_contextlist    $contextlist    The approved contexts and user information to delete information for.
+     */
+    public static function delete_data_for_user(approved_contextlist $contextlist) {
+        throw new \coding_exception(__FUNCTION__);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/privacy/tests/manager_test.php b/privacy/tests/manager_test.php
index b16e1c7aa9c..3f1f9acd55b 100644
--- a/privacy/tests/manager_test.php
+++ b/privacy/tests/manager_test.php
@@ -28,8 +28,11 @@ require_once($CFG->dirroot . '/privacy/tests/fixtures/mock_null_provider.php');
 require_once($CFG->dirroot . '/privacy/tests/fixtures/mock_provider.php');
 require_once($CFG->dirroot . '/privacy/tests/fixtures/mock_plugin_subplugin_provider.php');
 require_once($CFG->dirroot . '/privacy/tests/fixtures/mock_mod_with_user_data_provider.php');
+require_once($CFG->dirroot . '/privacy/tests/fixtures/provider_a.php');
+require_once($CFG->dirroot . '/privacy/tests/fixtures/provider_throwing_exception.php');
 
 use \core_privacy\local\request\writer;
+use \core_privacy\local\request\approved_contextlist;
 
 /**
  * Privacy manager unit tests.
@@ -175,7 +178,7 @@ class privacy_manager_testcase extends advanced_testcase {
         // Create an approved contextlist.
         $approvedcontextlistcollection = new \core_privacy\local\request\contextlist_collection(10);
         foreach ($contextlistcollection->get_contextlists() as $contextlist) {
-            $approvedcontextlist = new \core_privacy\local\request\approved_contextlist(new stdClass(), $contextlist->get_component(),
+            $approvedcontextlist = new approved_contextlist(new stdClass(), $contextlist->get_component(),
                 $contextlist->get_contextids());
             $approvedcontextlistcollection->add_contextlist($approvedcontextlist);
         }
@@ -210,7 +213,7 @@ class privacy_manager_testcase extends advanced_testcase {
         // Create an approved contextlist.
         $approvedcontextlistcollection = new \core_privacy\local\request\contextlist_collection($user->id);
         foreach ($contextlistcollection->get_contextlists() as $contextlist) {
-            $approvedcontextlist = new \core_privacy\local\request\approved_contextlist($user, $contextlist->get_component(),
+            $approvedcontextlist = new approved_contextlist($user, $contextlist->get_component(),
                 $contextlist->get_contextids());
             $approvedcontextlistcollection->add_contextlist($approvedcontextlist);
         }
@@ -300,4 +303,164 @@ class privacy_manager_testcase extends advanced_testcase {
             ],
         ];
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that get_contexts_for_userid() with a failing item.
+     */
+    public function test_get_contexts_for_userid_with_failing() {
+        // Get a mock manager, in which the core components list is mocked to include all mock plugins.
+        // testcomponent is a core provider, testcomponent2 isa null provider, testcomponent3 is subplugin provider (non core).
+        $mockman = $this->get_mock_manager_with_core_components(['mod_component_broken', 'mod_component_a']);
+
+        $observer = $this->getMockBuilder(\core_privacy\manager_observer::class)
+            ->setMethods(['handle_component_failure'])
+            ->getMock();
+        $mockman->set_observer($observer);
+
+        $observer->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('handle_component_failure')
+            ->with(
+                $this->isInstanceOf(\coding_exception::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('mod_component_broken'),
+                $this->identicalTo(\core_privacy\local\request\core_user_data_provider::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('get_contexts_for_userid'),
+                $this->anything()
+            );
+
+        // Get the contextlist_collection.
+        $contextlistcollection = $mockman->get_contexts_for_userid(10);
+        $this->assertDebuggingCalled();
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(\core_privacy\local\request\contextlist_collection::class, $contextlistcollection);
+        $this->assertCount(1, $contextlistcollection);
+
+        // The component which completed shoudl have returned a contextlist.
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(\core_privacy\local\request\contextlist::class,
+                                $contextlistcollection->get_contextlist_for_component('mod_component_a'));
+        $this->assertEmpty($contextlistcollection->get_contextlist_for_component('mod_component_broken'));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that export_user_data() with a failing item.
+     */
+    public function test_export_user_data_with_failing() {
+        $user = \core_user::get_user_by_username('admin');
+        $mockman = $this->get_mock_manager_with_core_components(['mod_component_broken', 'mod_component_a']);
+        $context = \context_system::instance();
+        $contextid = $context->id;
+
+        $observer = $this->getMockBuilder(\core_privacy\manager_observer::class)
+            ->setMethods(['handle_component_failure'])
+            ->getMock();
+        $mockman->set_observer($observer);
+
+        $observer->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('handle_component_failure')
+            ->with(
+                $this->isInstanceOf(\coding_exception::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('mod_component_broken'),
+                $this->identicalTo(\core_privacy\local\request\core_user_data_provider::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('export_user_data'),
+                $this->anything()
+            );
+
+        $collection = new \core_privacy\local\request\contextlist_collection(10);
+        $collection->add_contextlist(new approved_contextlist($user, 'mod_component_broken', [$contextid]));
+        $collection->add_contextlist(new approved_contextlist($user, 'mod_component_a', [$contextid]));
+
+        // Get the contextlist_collection.
+        $mockman->export_user_data($collection);
+        $this->assertDebuggingCalled();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that delete_data_for_user() with a failing item.
+     */
+    public function test_delete_data_for_user_with_failing() {
+        $user = \core_user::get_user_by_username('admin');
+        $mockman = $this->get_mock_manager_with_core_components(['mod_component_broken', 'mod_component_a']);
+        $context = \context_system::instance();
+        $contextid = $context->id;
+
+        $observer = $this->getMockBuilder(\core_privacy\manager_observer::class)
+            ->setMethods(['handle_component_failure'])
+            ->getMock();
+        $mockman->set_observer($observer);
+
+        $observer->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('handle_component_failure')
+            ->with(
+                $this->isInstanceOf(\coding_exception::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('mod_component_broken'),
+                $this->identicalTo(\core_privacy\local\request\core_user_data_provider::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('delete_data_for_user'),
+                $this->anything()
+            );
+
+        $collection = new \core_privacy\local\request\contextlist_collection(10);
+        $collection->add_contextlist(new approved_contextlist($user, 'mod_component_broken', [$contextid]));
+        $collection->add_contextlist(new approved_contextlist($user, 'mod_component_a', [$contextid]));
+
+        // Get the contextlist_collection.
+        $mockman->delete_data_for_user($collection);
+        $this->assertDebuggingCalled();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that delete_data_for_all_users_in_context() with a failing item.
+     */
+    public function test_delete_data_for_all_users_in_context_with_failing() {
+        $user = \core_user::get_user_by_username('admin');
+        $mockman = $this->get_mock_manager_with_core_components(['mod_component_broken', 'mod_component_a']);
+        $context = \context_system::instance();
+
+        $observer = $this->getMockBuilder(\core_privacy\manager_observer::class)
+            ->setMethods(['handle_component_failure'])
+            ->getMock();
+        $mockman->set_observer($observer);
+
+        $observer->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('handle_component_failure')
+            ->with(
+                $this->isInstanceOf(\coding_exception::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('mod_component_broken'),
+                $this->identicalTo(\core_privacy\local\request\core_user_data_provider::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('delete_data_for_all_users_in_context'),
+                $this->anything()
+            );
+
+        // Get the contextlist_collection.
+        $mockman->delete_data_for_all_users_in_context($context);
+        $this->assertDebuggingCalled();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that get_metadata_for_components() with a failing item.
+     */
+    public function test_get_metadata_for_components_with_failing() {
+        $user = \core_user::get_user_by_username('admin');
+        $mockman = $this->get_mock_manager_with_core_components(['mod_component_broken', 'mod_component_a']);
+        $context = \context_system::instance();
+
+        $observer = $this->getMockBuilder(\core_privacy\manager_observer::class)
+            ->setMethods(['handle_component_failure'])
+            ->getMock();
+        $mockman->set_observer($observer);
+
+        $observer->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('handle_component_failure')
+            ->with(
+                $this->isInstanceOf(\coding_exception::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('mod_component_broken'),
+                $this->identicalTo(\core_privacy\local\metadata\provider::class),
+                $this->identicalTo('get_metadata'),
+                $this->anything()
+            );
+
+        // Get the contextlist_collection.
+        $metadata = $mockman->get_metadata_for_components();
+        $this->assertDebuggingCalled();
+
+        $this->assertInternalType('array', $metadata);
+        $this->assertCount(1, $metadata);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/version.php b/version.php
index 1debb61f298..48426fa27c1 100644
--- a/version.php
+++ b/version.php
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
 defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
 
-$version  = 2017051505.13;              // 20170515      = branching date YYYYMMDD - do not modify!
+$version  = 2017051505.14;              // 20170515      = branching date YYYYMMDD - do not modify!
                                         //         RR    = release increments - 00 in DEV branches.
                                         //           .XX = incremental changes.