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Coroners and Justice Act brought into force to allow Information Commissioner to inspect premises for data protection breaches

Mark Weston — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:55:39 +0000

Sections 173 to 175 of the Coroners and Justice Act has been brought into force as of 1 February. This gives the Information Commissioner – the data protection regulator in the UK – the right to inspect premises and require other co-operation (initially of public authorities, but the categories may be extended later) – to assess whether the data controller (usually the organisation being inspected) is complying with the Data Protection Act. The changes also make other changes of a framework nature initially, including requiring the Commissioner to create new codes of practice, such as to cover the sharing of personal data.

This is part of a trend to beef up data protection law and increase the teeth given to inspect and prosecute for data breaches.

Information Commissioner gets broader enforcement powers as Coroners and Justice Bill receives Royal Assent…

Mark Weston — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:58:31 +0000

The Information Commissioner’s Office – the body in charge of enforcing UK data protection laws – has been given greater enforcement powers, as the Coroners and Justice Bill has been passed. The new law gives the ICO a right to serve public authorities with assessment notices to enable them to establish whether they are complying with data protection laws. The law also gives the ICO broader powers to require people on premises to provide explanations of material found on those premises. One controversial provision in the original Bill – to allow the Government much wider data-sharing powers – was withdrawn before the Bill became law. The ICO would like to see the greater powers extended to its role in enforcing data protection laws against private sector organisations.