Author Archives: Peter Given
Data Protection Bill receives Royal Assent
On 23 May, the Data Protection Act 2018 was finally passed into law. The new Act repeals the Data Protection Act 1998, and facilitates the implementation into UK law of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, which comes into effect on 25 May. We will be publishing an article in due course that will […]
FCA and ICO update on GDPR
An update from FCA and the ICO confirms FCA’s view that firms can comply with both the GDPR and its rules. The update notes that GDPR is a board level responsibility, and firms must produce evidence to show what they have done to comply with it. FCA also notes that, although the ICO will regulate […]
GDPR compliance: the final countdown
We have written an article on the final countdown to GDPR compliance.
Government publishes DP Bill statement of intent
We have written an article on the Government’s statement of intent for the Data Protection Bill.
ICO fines loan firm for nuisance texts
The Information Commissioner’s Office has fined Provident Personal Credit Ltd £80,000 for sending nearly 1 million unsolicited texts promoting personal loans. The company used third party affiliates to send the communications, to which the recipients had not consented.
ICO publishes Information Rights Strategic Plan 2017 – 2021
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recently published its information rights strategic plan 2017 – 2021. The strategic plan sets out the ICO’s mission to increase the trust that the public has in government, public bodies and the private sector; including trust in transparency, in the digital economy and in digital public service delivery. It also […]
The European Data Protection Supervisor publishes 2016 Annual Report
Giovanni Buttarelli, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) presented the EDPS Annual Report 2016 to the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on 4 May 2017. By way of reminder, the EDPS is the EU’s independent data protection authority, tasked with ensuring that the institutions and bodies of the EU respect […]
ICO fines financial firm for sending unsolicited texts
The ICO has fined Monevo Limited, a finance brokerage firm, £40,000 for sending unsolicited marketing texts without proper consent. Between April 2016 and June 2016, the company sent 44,172 texts encouraging people to apply for loans and 130 complaints were made, prompting the ICO investigation. Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, […]
The Government calls for views on GDPR derogations
The UK Government has launched a Call for Views on the derogations (exemptions) from the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May 2018. Although there is limited scope for flexibility, the GDPR does allow member states to exercise their discretion over how certain provisions of the GDPR will apply […]
ICO fines credit broker for unsolicited texts
The ICO has fined a credit broker £20,000 for sending unsolicited communications in breach of regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. Munee Hut markets its services partly through affiliates that send marketing texts that direct recipients to Munee Hut’s website. Between mid-2015 and spring 2016, 885 complaints were made about receipt […]
ICO and FCA hold big data use forum
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and FCA have published a summary of their forum on the use of Big Data in retail general insurance. The forum, held on 16 January 2017, was to engage with the insurance industry following stakeholder concerns raised as part of FCA’s call for input, on which it published a feedback statement […]
ICO fines RSA for DP breach
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance PLC (RSA) with a monetary penalty notice (£150,000) because of a serious breach of the seventh principle (the requirement to keep data secure) of the Data Protection Act 1998 by RSA. Between 18 May 2015 and 30 July 2015, a portable Network Attached […]
ICO revises Privacy Notices code of Practice
The ICO has recently issued a revised Privacy Notices Code of Practice, which we have reviewed in our recent article on the Code for the Privacy and Data Protection Journal.
UK confirms adoption of the GDPR
The UK Government has confirmed that the UK will adopt the GDPR . Secretary of State Karen Bradley MP stated: ‘We will be members of the EU in 2018 and therefore it would be expected and quite normal for us to opt into the GDPR and then look later at how best we might be […]