- The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has released a statement confirming that in the near future it will have the power to issue fines for breaches of the eight data protection principles embodied in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).
- Without giving a precise date on which these new powers will come into force, the ICO spokesperson has said that the Government had indicated April 2010 as the probable commencement date.
- The statement went on to say that the ICO had been given no indication as to the level of fines.
The ICO has for a long time been lobbying for the power to impose fines for breaches of the Data Protection Act. That its lobbying has been successful will not come as a surprise to those in the industry. The ICO has for a long time held the belief that it should be able to effectively "police" the data protection principles and would appear to chime in tune with growing consumer awareness and concerns regarding the security of personal data. What is surprising is that the ICO has made the announcement at all.
It is the Government, in particular the Ministry of Justice, that has the power to permit the issuing of fines under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. So why has the ICO taken the opportunity to issue a statement that contains very little substantive new information? One answer may be that the ICO is making a statement of intent. It may be that the ICO is effectively firing a warning shot across the bows and giving notice that not only will these powers come into force in April, but that the ICO intends to use them more aggressively than the attitude it has adopted to its pre-existing powers.
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