10:25am Tuesday 9th February 2010
By Owen McAteer
ORGANISATIONS are being advised to address any data protection issues before April, or face fines of up to half-a-million pounds.
The Information Commissioner’s power to issue fines of up to £500,000 for serious breaches of data protection laws is due to come into force on April 6, subject to Parliamentary control.
Experts at North-East law firm Ward Hadaway say this means businesses and organisations will need to be much more stringent when it comes to protecting any sensitive data they may hold on individuals, such as employees, customers or contacts.
It comes in the wake of highprofile incidents, such as the loss of data on 25 million families from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs office, in Washington, Wearside.
Judy Baker, partner and head of data protection at Ward Hadaway, said: “In light of these changes, organisations would do well to implement a review of their data protection safeguards to ensure they are as secure as possible.
“The powers will only apply to breaches after April 6, so organisations would be wise to get their houses in order before that.
“Up until now, the Information Commissioner’s powers as the UK data protection regulator were limited.
“The new powers will enable him to treat data protection breaches more seriously, and have potential to impact on all organisations that collect and process personal information.
“From the size of the maximum fine which can be imposed, it is clear that the Government is taking the issue much more seriously than before and organisations would do well to take heed.”
In general terms, the legislation will allow the Information Commissioner to issue a financial penalty to an organisation, if he is satisfied that there has been a serious breach of data protection, that the breach was likely to cause substantial damage or distress, and it was committed deliberately, or the organisation should have known there was a risk, but failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it.
The Home Secretary has also been given powers to introduce jail sentences for the unlawful obtaining or disclosing of personal information, although these require secondary legislation before they are implemented and the consultation process has not yet finished.
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