News, blogs and speeches

Action taken against Labour Party for failing to respond to requests for personal information on time

28 August 2024, News

We have issued a reprimand to the Labour Party for repeatedly failing to respond to people who asked it what personal information the party held on them – known as a subject access request (SAR).

New tool helps small businesses create privacy notices

20 August 2024, News

We have launched a new, quick and easy-to-use tool to help small organisations and sole traders create a bespoke privacy notice and protect people’s information rights.

ICO statement on Meta's ad-free subscription service

15 August 2024, Statement

“One of our key priorities is to ensure that people’s information rights are upheld by the online advertising industry.

Porthcawl man sentenced after “brazen” car scam worth hundreds of thousands of pounds

13 August 2024, News

A man who unlawfully accessed personal data has been sentenced after our investigation.

Provisional decision to impose £6m fine on software provider following 2022 ransomware attack that disrupted NHS and social care services

07 August 2024, Statement, Online technology and telecoms

We have provisionally decided to fine Advanced Computer Software Group Ltd (Advanced) £6.09m, following an initial finding that the provider failed to implement measures to protect the personal…

Social media and video sharing platforms put on notice over poor children’s privacy practices

02 August 2024, News

We are calling on 11 social media and video sharing platforms to improve their children’s privacy practices.

Supporting public authorities to be open and transparent

31 July 2024, Blog

Around this time last year, I wrote about our new Upstream Regulation team and our focus on supporting public authorities to be open and accountable with the public they serve.

ICO reprimands the Electoral Commission after cyber attack compromises servers

30 July 2024, News

We have issued a reprimand to the Electoral Commission after hackers gained access to servers that contained the personal information of approximately 40 million people.

ICO takes action against two organisations for "risking public trust" by failing to respond to public requests for information

29 July 2024, News

We have taken action against two trusted public services after investigations found they’d failed to meet basic information request requirements, as set out under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

Essex school reprimanded after using facial recognition technology for canteen payments

23 July 2024, News

We have issued a reprimand to a school that broke the law when it introduced facial recognition technology (FRT).

ICO statement in response to Google announcing it will no longer block third party cookies in Chrome

23 July 2024, Statement

"We are disappointed that Google has changed its plans and no longer intends to deprecate third party cookies from the Chrome Browser.

London Borough of Hackney reprimanded following cyber-attack

17 July 2024, Statement, Local government

We have issued the London Borough of Hackney with a reprimand following a cyber-attack in 2020 that led to hackers gaining access to and encrypting 440,000 files, affecting at least 280,000 residents and other individuals including staff.

Information Commissioner calls for water companies to be crystal clear with public over sewage pollution

15 July 2024, News

Water companies must put transparency first if they want to rebuild public trust, we have warned.

Sut rydyn ni’n helpu’r lluoedd heddlu i gydymffurfio gyda FOIA – a beth ni’n gwneud os nad ydyn nhw.

10 July 2024, Blog

Mae’r hawl sylfaenol i holi awdurdodau cyhoeddus a’u dwyn i gyfrif yn un o gonglfeini’n democratiaeth.

How we help police forces comply with FOIA - and what we do if they don't

10 July 2024, Blog

The fundamental right to ask questions of and hold public authorities to account is a cornerstone of our democracy.

Do I really need to read the privacy notice?

09 July 2024, News

At the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), we are encouraging people to check how an app plans to use their personal information before they sign up.

ICO statement on its public sector approach trial

26 June 2024, Statement

In June 2022 we revised our approach to working with public sector organisations and started a two-year trial, as set out in our open letter at the time.

Statement in response to Synnovis cyber attack

21 June 2024, Statement

An ICO spokesperson said: "While we are continuing to make enquiries into this matter, we recognise the sensitivity of some of the information in question and the worry this may have caused. …

Statement in response to Meta's plans to train generative AI with user data

14 June 2024, Statement

Stephen Almond, Executive Director, Regulatory Risk at the ICO, said: “We are pleased that Meta has reflected on the concerns we shared from users of their service in the UK, and responded to…

ICO to investigate 23andMe data breach with Canadian counterpart

10 June 2024, Statement

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) have launched a joint investigation into the data breach that happened in October 2023 at the global direct-to-consumer genetic testing company 23andMe.