News, blogs and speeches

Supporting public authorities to be open and transparent

31 July 2024, Blog

Around this time last year, I wrote about our new Upstream Regulation team and our focus on supporting public authorities to be open and accountable with the public they serve.

ICO reprimands the Electoral Commission after cyber attack compromises servers

30 July 2024, News

We have issued a reprimand to the Electoral Commission after hackers gained access to servers that contained the personal information of approximately 40 million people.

ICO takes action against two organisations for "risking public trust" by failing to respond to public requests for information

29 July 2024, News

We have taken action against two trusted public services after investigations found they’d failed to meet basic information request requirements, as set out under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

Essex school reprimanded after using facial recognition technology for canteen payments

23 July 2024, News

We have issued a reprimand to a school that broke the law when it introduced facial recognition technology (FRT).

ICO statement in response to Google announcing it will no longer block third party cookies in Chrome

23 July 2024, Statement

"We are disappointed that Google has changed its plans and no longer intends to deprecate third party cookies from the Chrome Browser.

London Borough of Hackney reprimanded following cyber-attack

17 July 2024, Statement, Local government

We have issued the London Borough of Hackney with a reprimand following a cyber-attack in 2020 that led to hackers gaining access to and encrypting 440,000 files, affecting at least 280,000 residents and other individuals including staff.

Information Commissioner calls for water companies to be crystal clear with public over sewage pollution

15 July 2024, News

Water companies must put transparency first if they want to rebuild public trust, we have warned.

Sut rydyn ni’n helpu’r lluoedd heddlu i gydymffurfio gyda FOIA – a beth ni’n gwneud os nad ydyn nhw.

10 July 2024, Blog

Mae’r hawl sylfaenol i holi awdurdodau cyhoeddus a’u dwyn i gyfrif yn un o gonglfeini’n democratiaeth.

How we help police forces comply with FOIA - and what we do if they don't

10 July 2024, Blog

The fundamental right to ask questions of and hold public authorities to account is a cornerstone of our democracy.

Do I really need to read the privacy notice?

09 July 2024, News

At the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), we are encouraging people to check how an app plans to use their personal information before they sign up.

ICO statement on its public sector approach trial

26 June 2024, Statement

In June 2022 we revised our approach to working with public sector organisations and started a two-year trial, as set out in our open letter at the time.

Statement in response to Synnovis cyber attack

21 June 2024, Statement

An ICO spokesperson said: "While we are continuing to make enquiries into this matter, we recognise the sensitivity of some of the information in question and the worry this may have caused. …

Statement in response to Meta's plans to train generative AI with user data

14 June 2024, Statement

Stephen Almond, Executive Director, Regulatory Risk at the ICO, said: “We are pleased that Meta has reflected on the concerns we shared from users of their service in the UK, and responded to…

ICO to investigate 23andMe data breach with Canadian counterpart

10 June 2024, Statement

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) have launched a joint investigation into the data breach that happened in October 2023 at the global direct-to-consumer genetic testing company 23andMe.

Understanding what information people commonly request from public authorities

03 June 2024, Blog

Aiden Clarkson Senior Upstream Regulation Officer - FOI and Transparency People can use the WhatDoTheyKnow (WDTK) website to submit Freedom of Information (FOI) and…

The General Election and my personal data - what should I expect?

30 May 2024, Blog

We have been working with fellow regulators, and with those organisations and individuals who will be handling your personal information during the upcoming election campaign, to ensure expectations around compliance with the law are clear.

PSNI facing a £750k fine following spreadsheet error that exposed the personal information of its entire workforce

23 May 2024, News

Data breach brought tangible fear of threat to life

Statement in response to Microsoft Recall feature

22 May 2024, Statement

“We expect organisations to be transparent with users about how their data is being used and only process personal data to the extent that it is necessary to achieve a specific purpose.

We warn organisations must not ignore data protection risks as we conclude Snap ‘My AI’ chatbot investigation

21 May 2024, News

ICO concludes investigation into Snap’s approach to assessing the data protection risks of its ‘My AI’ chatbot

Car rental manager fined after unlawfully obtaining customer data

16 May 2024, News

A former Management Trainee at Enterprise Rent-A-Car UK Limited ("Enterprise Rent-A-Car") has been ordered to pay a fine after admitting he illegally obtained customer data between 18 March 2019 and 1 April 2019.

No regulatory wild west: how the ICO applies the law to emerging tech

15 May 2024, Speech

John Edwards, Information Commissioner, delivers speech at the New Scientist Emerging Technogies summit, 15 May 2024.

Children’s services in Birmingham reprimanded after inappropriately disclosing a child’s personal information

13 May 2024, News

We have issued a reprimand to Birmingham Children's Trust Community Interest Company after the personal information of a child was inappropriately disclosed to another family.

Organisations must do more to combat the growing threat of cyber attacks

10 May 2024, News

We are calling for all organisations to boost their cyber security and protect the personal information they hold, amid the growing threat of cyber attacks. Our own trend data reveals…

Statement in response to reports of a cyber breach at the Ministry of Defence

08 May 2024, Statement

Our spokesperson said: “The Ministry of Defence has made us aware of this incident and we are assessing the information provided”. Q&A from the Information Commissioner’s Office …

First-tier Tribunal ruling on Join the Triboo appeal

07 May 2024, Statement

We welcome the ruling from the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) on an appeal from Join the Triboo Limited . The online recruitment firm appealed a fine of £130,000 and an…