Civil rights groups warn of UK data protection enforcement gaps
A coalition of more than 70 organisations has asked MPs to investigate what they call a collapse in enforcement by the ICO, pointing to rising breaches and falling investigations, fines and prosecutions.
A coalition of more than 70 rights organisations, academics and legal experts has warned of a sharp decline in enforcement by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). In an open letter to the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, they argue that strong data protection enforcement is essential to prevent abuse and discrimination across public and private sectors.
They say rising data breaches are exposing people to serious risk and disrupting government and business operations.
For example, they note an incident where a Ministry of Defence breach exposed the data of 19,000 Afghani citizens. After the breach, the ICO opened did not pursue any formal actions against the Ministry and only imposed a lowered monetary penalty.
The group blames this lack of decisive action on Commissioner John Edwards. Since Edwards took office, ICO figures show reported breaches up by 11 percent and complaints up by 8 percent, while formal investigations, prosecutions, enforcement notices and fines have all dropped.
The coalition argues that this signals a weak approach to public-sector accountability. They say the current stance lacks deterrence and fails to drive better data practices across government. They describe the problem as structural and ask Parliament to open an inquiry into why data protection enforcement appears to be such a low priority.
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