Tough new powers for privacy watchdog

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which received Royal Assent this month, strengthens the powers of the Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) which under existing legislation could only issue an enforcement notice against organisations in breach of the Act.

David Smith, deputy information commissioner, says: “The prospect of substantial fines for deliberate or reckless breaches of the data protection principles will act as a strong deterrent and help ensure organisations take their data protection obligations more seriously.” However, Tom Morrison, an associate at Rollits, says it is likely the new power will only be capable of being exercised against the worst offenders, such as those that ignore enforcement notices. “The threat of fines being imposed by the ICO without the ICO having to go to the hassle of taking the offender to the courts may be enough however to capture the attention of at least some of those who may have previously thought that the ICO would not go to the effort of pursuing them,” Morrison adds.