News, blogs and speeches

Sleigh-ing the Christmas GDPR myths

06 December 2018, Blog

In the latest of our series of GDPR myth-busting blogs, a new post by Deputy Commissioner (Policy) Steve Wood tackles some misconceptions which have sprung up around how the new data protection law might affect your Christmas.

Blog: Your views will help us build our regulatory sandbox

05 December 2018, Blog

Former headteacher prosecuted for unlawfully obtaining school children’s personal information

05 December 2018, News, Education and childcare

An ex head teacher has been fined for unlawfully obtaining school children’s personal data from previous schools where he worked.

International Privacy Forum

05 December 2018, Speech

Elizabeth Denham’s speech to the International Privacy Forum, a public event following the 50 th Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) Forum in Wellington, New Zealand on 4 December 2018.

ICO statement in response to Marriott Hotels breach announcement

30 November 2018, Statement

ICO statement in response to Marriott Hotels breach announcement.

ICO's blog on its international work

30 November 2018, Blog

The ICO's ongoing contributions to the upholding of information rights across the globe.

Former GP surgery secretary fined for reading medical records of 231 patients in two years

29 November 2018, News

A former trainee secretary at a GP surgery has been fined after she admitted unlawfully reading the records of 231 patients in two years.

ICO issues the first fines to organisations that have not paid the data protection fee.

28 November 2018, News

Organisations across the business services, construction and finance sectors are among the first to be fined by the ICO for not paying the data protection fee.

ICO fines Uber £385,000 over data protection failings

27 November 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined ride sharing company Uber £385,000 for failing to protect customers’ personal information during a cyber attack.

ICO fines two firms for over one million nuisance calls made to TPS subscribers

26 November 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined two companies that made nearly 1.73 million direct marketing phone calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

Information Commissioner’s Office appoints in-house expert to research and investigate the impact of Artificial Intelligence on data privacy

20 November 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has appointed its first Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Information Commissioner’s investigation into the Metropolitan Police Service

16 November 2018, Blog

Gang violence is a matter of national concern – but the tools to tackle it must be fair, fit for purpose and above all, trusted by those communities at most risk.

ICO finds Metropolitan Police Service’s Gangs Matrix breached data protection laws

16 November 2018, News

An investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found that the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) use of the Gangs Matrix led to multiple and serious breaches of data protection…

Six month prison sentence for motor industry employee in first ICO Computer Misuse Act prosecution

12 November 2018, News

A motor industry employee has been sentenced to six months in prison in the first prosecution to be brought by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under legislation which carries a potential prison sentence.

ICO’s investigation into the use of data analytics in political campaigns

06 November 2018, Blog

The Information Commissione has published a report to Parliament that brings the various strands of our investigation up to date.

ICO sets alarm bells ringing for ‘cold callers’ as it fines home security firms

31 October 2018, News

Two firms that were behind nearly 600,000 nuisance calls attempting to sell home security systems to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), have been fined a total of £220,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Beesley Lecture - ‘Regulating the tech giants in the digital age’

31 October 2018, Speech

ICO Deputy Commissioner (Operations) James Dipple-Johnstone’s speech at the Institute of Directors in London, 31 October 2018.

Statement update in response to British Airways breach

25 October 2018, Statement

ICO statement in response to British Airways breach announcement.

ICO issues maximum £500,000 fine to Facebook for failing to protect users’ personal information

25 October 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Facebook £500,000 for serious breaches of data protection law.

UK Information Commissioner elected chair of the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners

23 October 2018, News

Elizabeth Denham, the UK’s Information Commissioner, has today been elected Chair of the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners (ICDPPC).

ICO welcomes Government’s early signing of the modernised Convention 108

10 October 2018, Blog

Today, a modernised version of the Council of Europe’s Convention 108 opens for signature in Strasbourg and the ICO is delighted that the UK Government is among the very first signatories.

New data protection self-assessment checklist for sole traders

10 October 2018, News

The ICO has today launched a self-assessment checklist that will help sole traders and self-employed individuals to assess their compliance with new data protection laws.

ICO fines firm £90,000 for nuisance emails about pre-paid funeral plans

09 October 2018, News

The Information Commissioner has fined London-based marketing company, Boost Finance Ltd (BFL), a company responsible for millions of nuisance emails about pre-paid funeral plans.

Heathrow Airport Limited fined £120,000 for serious failings in its data protection practices

08 October 2018, News

Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) has been fined £120,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for failing to ensure that the personal data held on its network was properly secured.

New ICO hub to support innovation

05 October 2018, News

The ICO has been awarded funding to provide data privacy expertise to other UK regulators to ensure rules and regulations keep pace with technologies of the future.

Meet the new ICO Director Strategic Policy (International)

04 October 2018, Blog

Anneke Schmider has been recently appointed to the new role Director of Strategic Policy (International) at the ICO.

ICO statement regarding STS Commercial Ltd

02 October 2018, Statement, Marketing

An ICO spokesperson said: “On 6 July 2018 the ICO announced it had imposed a fine of £60,000 on STS Commercial Ltd for allowing its lines to be used to send spam texts. “STS Commercial Ltd…

ICO fines Manchester firm £150,000 for making nuisance calls

01 October 2018, News, Marketing

A Manchester firm has been fined £150,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for making thousands of nuisance direct marketing phone calls.

ICO statement in response to Conservative Party conference app incident

29 September 2018, Statement

An ICO spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident involving a Conservative Party conference app and we will be making enquiries with the Conservative Party. “Organisations have a legal…

ICO statement in response to Facebook data breach announcement

28 September 2018, Statement

ICO Deputy Commissioner of operations, James Dipple-Johnstone, said: “It’s always the company’s responsibility to identify when UK citizens have been affected as part of a data breach and…

Bupa fined £175,000 for systemic data protection failures

28 September 2018, News

Bupa Insurance Services Limited (Bupa) has been fined £175,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for failing to have effective security measures in place to protect customers’ personal information.

ICO discusses GDPR Strategy at the third European Data Protection Board Plenary meeting

27 September 2018, Blog

This week the UK’s Information Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners attended the third meeting of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB).

ICO takes action for failure to pay new data protection fee

26 September 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has begun formal enforcement action against 34 organisations that have failed to pay the new data protection fee. The data protection regulator has…

Nurse prosecuted for inappropriately accessing patient records

25 September 2018, News

A former nurse at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust has been prosecuted for accessing patients’ medical records without authorisation. Clare Lawson who had been a staff nurse on the…

Credit reference agency Equifax fined for security breach

20 September 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued Equifax Ltd with a £500,000 fine for failing to protect the personal information of up to 15 million UK citizens during a cyber attack in 2017.

CBI Cyber Security: Business Insight Conference

12 September 2018, Speech

ICO Deputy Commissioner (Operations) James Dipple-Johnstone – speech to the CBI Cyber Security: Business Insight Conference

Organisations must continue to improve transparency and accountability as ICO survey shows most UK citizens still don’t trust organisations with their data

06 September 2018, News

The Information Commissioner is reminding organisations to be transparent with people’s personal information, after a survey revealed trust and confidence in how organisations handle personal data is still low, despite an improvement across sectors.

Marketing agency fined £60,000 for nuisance emails

05 September 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Everything DM Ltd (EDML) , based in Stevenage, £60,000 for sending 1.42 million emails without consent. The investigation found that,…

Blog: Continuous CCTV in taxis – where do councils stand?

14 August 2018, Blog

CCTV cameras have become a part of our everyday lives, we go about our business largely unaware of them. They can serve as a valuable tool for security, crime prevention and detection.

ICO strengthens commitment to technology and innovation with appointment of new executive director

13 August 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s commitment to encouraging new ideas and emerging technologies while protecting people’s privacy has been strengthened with a high-profile appointment.

Emma’s Diary fined £140,000 for selling personal information for political campaigning

09 August 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Lifecycle Marketing (Mother and Baby) Ltd, also known as Emma’s Diary , £140,000 for illegally collecting and selling personal information…

Marketing firm fined £100,000 after making more than 75,000 nuisance calls

01 August 2018, News

The Information Commissioner’s Office has fined an East Sussex marketing company £100,000 for making 75,649 nuisance calls. AMS Marketing Ltd, of Peacehaven, made the calls to people who had…

ICO statement in response to Dixons Carphone breach announcement

31 July 2018, Statement

ICO statement in response to Dixons Carphone breach announcement.

ICO’s annual report reveals increased public awareness of privacy and information rights issues

20 July 2018, News

New laws and high profile investigations have helped put data protection and privacy at the centre of the UK public’s consciousness like never before, the Information Commissioner has said.

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse fined £200,000 for revealing identities of possible abuse victims in mass email

18 July 2018, News

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has been fined £200,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after sending a bulk email that identified possible victims of non-recent child sexual abuse.