Powy’s Council receives record ICO fine of £130,000, December 2011

In the UK, The Information Commission Officer (ICO) has the power to fine organisations that are in breach of the Data Protection Act. On December 6th 2011, the ICO fined Powy’s council in Wales £130,000 for sending out the wrong child protection case to the wrong person – the recipient then made a complaint to their local MP. The ICO has the power to fine organisations up to £500,000 per breach and carry out a DPA audit on an organisation at any time. Anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles of the Data Protection Act, which make sure that personal information is:

•        Fairly and lawfully processed
•        Processed for limited purposes 
•        Adequate, relevant and not excessive
•        Accurate and up to date 
•        Not kept for longer than is necessary 
•        Processed in line with your rights 
•        Secure 
•        Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection