Over the last few weeks, we have reminded members of the importance of GDPR and how the Society is helping you become and remain compliant. It seems that, at the same time, the ICO is reminding us all of the consequences of getting things wrong – having published their intention to fine businesses over £280million just last month…
Last month’s fines
In July, the ICO has announced the intention to fine British Airways £183million and Marriott International £99million for data breaches.
Last month’s fines weren’t confined to large businesses – the ICO also fined a London estate agent £80,000 for failing to keep tenants’ data safe. The regulator also won a court case against a motor industry employee who was ordered to pay over £25,000 in a confiscation order following data theft.
With the ability to fine businesses up to 4% of their annual turnover, the ICO is powerful and is showing it is quite willing to flex its muscles.
Don’t put yourself or our industry at risk
Many of our members believe they are fully GDPR compliant but we encourage you to double check. Are you 100% clear on what compliance involves? Would you be as confident in the cold light of a data breach, a subject access request or a complaint to the ICO? Would you say your staff are your first line of defence against non-compliance or your biggest risk?
Don’t put yourselves and our industry at risk! Our data protection partner Astrid offers a free compliance check – just create an account, go through to stage 1 of their process and take the quick GDPR test.
