The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)’s data protection complaint handling performance is currently in very clear crisis. Despite its pledge to assess and respond to 80% of such complaints within 90 days, the percentage of cases where such an outcome has not been achieved has ballooned from 15.2% in 2023/ 24 to 70% in 2024/25 (a 360% increase). Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: ICO (Page 1 of 3)
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Annual Report for 2024/25 released last week sadly provides evidence of a severe and serious weakening of information rights regulation compared to the strong enforcement which is (and remains) promised especially under the (UK) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Continue reading
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has some history of failing to learn the lessons from its past information governance mistakes, even seeking to present these as a testament to success. For example, its publicity video for its 40th anniversary released earlier this year stated that the 2012 Leveson Inquiry, which followed the phone hacking scandal, showed it “stand[ing] up during scandals” and thereby demonstrated a track record of “being there when you need us most”. Continue reading
Section 179 of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 places the Secretary of State under a duty to ensure that a Report is “la[id] before Parliament” on both the “use” and “effectiveness” of “relevant alternative dispute resolution procedures” in cases involving actual or alleged failures by media organisations, other than broadcasters, “to comply with the data protection legislation”. Continue reading
This year, 2024 was billed to be the year of the first ‘robust and comprehensive’ UK statutory review of the extent of journalism’s compliance with data protection law and good practice, a formal appraisal which was (and is) meant to become a clear ‘part of the media landscape’ as reformed by the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 in the wake of the general/first part of the Leveson Inquiry. Continue reading
This blog explores figures from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on its privacy and data protection enforcement in 2023-24 which not only remain concerningly low but are also troublingly inconsistent. Continue reading
In a recent blog post I reported that several police forces in the UK had made headline news because of failures to comply with requirements of the UK GDPR when preparing responses to requests for information made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Continue reading
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s ‘supervisory authority’, as required by the Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) (superseded by the EU General Data Protection Regulation and later the UK General Data Protection Regulation) on all matters concerning personal data. Continue reading
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a second consultation on a Draft Data Protection and Journalism Code of practice [pdf]. This is a statutory code under section 124 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). The consultation was launched on 21 September 2022 and closes on 16 November 2022. Continue reading
The UK Information Commissioner Office (ICO) has launched a major consultation on three draft documents related to its regulatory approach: an overarching Regulatory Action Policy, Statutory Guidance on Data Protection Act 2018 Action and Statutory Guidance related to its Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations (PECR) Powers. These documents would replace the ICO’s Regulatory Action Policy produced in 2018 which sat under its 2017-2021 Strategic Plan (but has yet to be updated). Continue reading
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