Environmental Information Regulations 2004

Information Commissioner's Office calls for accountants to play their role in SMEs data protection compliance

Retrieved on:

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Regulator publishes key questions for accountants to ask SME clients to ensure they get data protection compliance right.

Key Points:

Regulator publishes key questions for accountants to ask SME clients to ensure they get data protection compliance right.
The ICO is calling on UK accountants to recognise the crucial role they play in helping their SME clients have the right data protection practises in place from the day their business is established.
Data protection law sets out what businesses should do to make sure they are looking after people’s personal information properly and fairly.
In addition to the legal requirement, good data protection makes economic sense.
The ICO has an array of free resources for SMEs, providing advice and guidance for on data protection, electronic marketing and freedom of information on its dedicated SME hub.
The ICO has listed seven key questions for accountants to ask their SME clients about their data protection compliance.
How much does your client know about data protection compliance and the ICO?Establishing a client’s level of knowledge is a useful place to start.
Do they know what to do if their business has a personal data breach?A data breach action plan is essential.
Named SME Data Essentials, it is aimed at empowering organisations to become better equipped to manage their own data compliance.

New FOI resources to support public authorities

Retrieved on:

Saturday, February 4, 2023

Freedom, Trust, Environmental Information Regulations 2004, Delays, ICIC, Compliance, Legislation, ICO, Blog, Practice, Freedom of Information Act 2000, FOI, Goal, Frustration, Time, Cryptocurrency, Risk management, Recycling

We want to enhance the experience and outcomes for people making FOI requests and also support public authorities to be transparent and accountable about the decisions they make.

Key Points:

We want to enhance the experience and outcomes for people making FOI requests and also support public authorities to be transparent and accountable about the decisions they make.
We now have a new Upstream Regulation team in place to provide more help for public authorities dealing with FOI requests.
In order to provide the best support we can, our team has been establishing exactly what public authorities want help with and what they think that support should look like.
Once we have the results of the external research, we’ll be finalising our goals and programme of work to ensure we’re providing the best resources and support possible to public authorities.

Former RAC employee fined for stealing data of victims of road traffic incidents

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

A former employee of breakdown services company RAC has plead guilty and been fined for the stealing of data of victims of road traffic accidents.

Key Points:

A former employee of breakdown services company RAC has plead guilty and been fined for the stealing of data of victims of road traffic accidents.
A review of individuals that had accessed these claims found that Mr Asif Khan was the only employee to access all 21.
An internal RAC investigation later reported suspicious behaviour from Mr Khan including taking photos of his computer screen with his phone.
The phones contained photos of data on it relating to over one hundred road incidents.

Empowering people to foster trust in tomorrow’s technological advancements

Retrieved on:

Thursday, January 26, 2023

The ICO is encouraging developers to consider privacy at an early stage when implementing new technologies to maintain public trust and confidence.

Key Points:

The ICO is encouraging developers to consider privacy at an early stage when implementing new technologies to maintain public trust and confidence.
Director of Technology, Innovation and Enterprise, Stephen Almond said:
“As a regulator, part of our role is to foster trust in how organisations process personal information, whilst championing growth and innovation.
“Crucially, what we’ve seen through our research is that while the technologies and the opportunities organisations offering are new, the ways to encourage public trust are not.
Research suggests that these devices could monitor your blood sugar, alcohol and hydration levels and influence people’s decisions.
In the future, these immersive technologies have the potential to overcome geographical barriers as well as improving educational experiences.
This enables consumers to have continued access to banking apps and services improving the ease of moving, lending and borrowing money.
We will use these lessons learned to further develop our views and guidance on emerging technologies.

Building better business by responsibly unlocking the value of personal information

Retrieved on:

Thursday, January 26, 2023

A recent survey, commissioned by the ICO, showed 91% of people worried about having their personal information sold to other companies without their consent, and 87% worried about a company losing their personal information.

Key Points:

A recent survey, commissioned by the ICO, showed 91% of people worried about having their personal information sold to other companies without their consent, and 87% worried about a company losing their personal information.
Data protection law sets out what businesses should do to make sure they are looking after people’s personal information properly and fairly.
It saves business owners time and money, and shows customers their information is being treated correctly.
Paul Arnold, Chief Operating Officer, ICO, said:
“As we head into a new year, and a tough year for many small businesses, we want to help business owners work confidently and responsibly with the personal information they hold.
It can be an incredibly valuable asset when held and processed responsibly and can enable hard-working business owners to develop their business, whilst instilling a real sense of confidence in their customers.
We live in a data-driven world and if used in the right way, data can really help a business achieve greater success.
Know about subject access requests- People have the legal right to know what personal information you hold about them.
Named SME Data Essentials, it is aimed at empowering organisations to become better equipped to manage their own data compliance.

Five businesses fined a total of £435,000 for making nearly half a million unlawful marketing calls

Retrieved on:

Friday, December 16, 2022

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has fined five companies a total of 435,000 for making nearly half a million unlawful marketing calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

Key Points:

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has fined five companies a total of 435,000 for making nearly half a million unlawful marketing calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).
The companies collectively made nearly half a million unlawful marketing calls, some of which appeared to be directed at elderly vulnerable people who had taken action to block the calls by registering with the TPS.
During the calls, there is evidence that some of the companies used apparent pressure tactics with a view to obtaining payment details from people.
Andy Curry, Head of ICO Investigations said:
We are here to support legitimate companies who want to comply with the law.
Earlier this week, we released updated direct marketing guidance to help those very businesses.
Allapplianceservices UK Ltd (AUKL), based in Brighton, made 99,313 unsolicited direct marketing calls to people registered with the TPS between 1 January 2021 and 28 June 2021.
Both companies have the same Director, with phone lines rented by one company used by both businesses to make calls.
To help you, your friends and relatives stop unlawful marketing calls you can:
- Register landlines and mobile numbers with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) free of charge.
The TPS is a register used by legitimate marketing companies to identify people who have said they dont want to receive marketing calls.
So, hang up and report any nuisance calls you receive to the ICO using our online nuisance calls reporting tool.
Every complaint counts, with the ICO issuing over 2 million in penalties against rogue companies responsible for nuisance calls, texts and emails in 2022.

ICO launches consultation on how it prioritises FOI complaints

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has launched a consultation on how it prioritises the complaints it receives about public bodies handling of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Key Points:

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has launched a consultation on how it prioritises the complaints it receives about public bodies handling of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
Limited funding, an increase in FOI cases brought to the ICO and an increased need to support stretched public authorities have created a perfect storm.
The ICO is therefore looking at ways to improve its FOI casework services to make information rights work more effectively.
The proposal is to prioritise complaints where there is a clear public interest in the information that has been asked for.
New criteria for prioritisation are set out in the consultation, including applying the following tests:
- Is there a high public interest in the information requested?
Warren Seddon, ICO Director of FOI and Transparency, said:
This is about promoting openness, transparency and accountability in line with ICO25, our new corporate strategy.
The new prioritisation criteria will cover complaints made under both the FOI Act and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).

ICO and Cabinet Office reach agreement on New Year Honours data breach fine

Retrieved on:

Sunday, November 6, 2022

The UK Information Commissioner issued its fine to the Cabinet Office on 15 November 2021, following an investigation into the 2019 data breach, where the Cabinet Office published a file on GOV.UK containing the names and unredacted addresses of more than 1,000 people announced in the New Year Honours list.

Key Points:

The UK Information Commissioner issued its fine to the Cabinet Office on 15 November 2021, following an investigation into the 2019 data breach, where the Cabinet Office published a file on GOV.UK containing the names and unredacted addresses of more than 1,000 people announced in the New Year Honours list.
The Cabinet Office appealed against the amount of the fine to the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) in December 2021, alleging the level of penalty was wholly disproportionate.
We welcome the agreement reached with the Cabinet Office and we will continue to work with them to ensure peoples information are being looked after.
Notes to Editors
- The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.

Department for Education warned after gambling companies benefit from learning records database

Retrieved on:

Sunday, November 6, 2022

The DfE has overall responsibility for the learning records service database (LRS), which provides a record of pupils qualifications that education providers can access.

Key Points:

The DfE has overall responsibility for the learning records service database (LRS), which provides a record of pupils qualifications that education providers can access.
Trustopia was in fact a screening company and used the database for age verification, a service they offered to companies including GB Group, which helped gambling companies confirm customers were over 18.
John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, said:
No-one needs persuading that a database of pupils learning records being used to help gambling companies is unacceptable.
Our investigation found that the processes put in place by the Department for Education were woeful.
Data was being misused, and the Department was unaware there was even a problem until a national newspaper informed them.
But that should not detract from how serious the errors we have highlighted were, nor how urgently they needed addressing by the Department for Education.

ICO acting against eight individuals over alleged theft of road traffic accident data from garages

Retrieved on:

Monday, October 31, 2022

Privacy, ICO, FOIA, EIR, Environmental Information Regulations 2004, Data Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act 2000, PECR, Computer, Information privacy, Legislation, Data Protection Act 1998, Information, Computer Misuse Act 1990, Hearing, Telecommunication, Freedom, Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, Cryptocurrency

The defendants are alleged to have conspired together to access and obtain the personal data of hundreds of thousands of individuals without the consent of the companies concerned.

Key Points:

The defendants are alleged to have conspired together to access and obtain the personal data of hundreds of thousands of individuals without the consent of the companies concerned.
- The ICO can take action to address and change the behaviour of organisations and individuals that collect, use and keep personal information.
- Due to the offences pre-dating the implementation of the current Data Protection Act in May 2018, the relevant legislation is the Data Protection Act 1998.
- To report a concern to the ICO telephone our helpline 0303 123 1113 or go to ico.org.uk/concerns.