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Civil Monetary Penalties - Government Consultation Response
As detailed in our Technology Media & Communications e-update of 13 November 2009 entitled '500,000 REASONS FOR DATA CONTROLLERS TO BE CAREFUL', the Ministry of Justice recently issued a consultation paper to assess the appropriateness of fines of 10% of annual turnover up to a maximum of £500,000 for serious breaches by data controllers of any of the eight data protection principles.
In draft guidance, the Information Commissioner set out the reasoning behind the new monetary penalties and the circumstances in which they can, and how they will, be imposed. The ICO did, however, emphasise that "the purpose of a monetary penalty notice is not to impose serious financial hardship on a responsible data controller" and before handing out fines, he will take into account the sector within which the data controller operates, the size and financial resources of the business.
- The consultation period for the proposal ended on 21 December 2009.
- MacRoberts response to the Consultation on 16 December 2009 can be seen by clicking here.
- The Government's Ministry of Justice Civil Monetary Penalities response of 12 January 2010 can be accessed by clicking here.
MacRoberts offers a comprehensive Data Protection compliance service, including Training. For more information on any aspect of data protection law, please contact Valerie Surgenor or David Flint on 0141 332 9988.