Giving bite to the bark: New powers to fine businesses who breach data protection legislation

The UK Information Commissioner has been given new powers to impose financial penalties for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the DPA). Anyone who deliberately or recklessly disregards the principles of the DPA may be fined. This is a big step forward in giving teeth to the enforcement of data protection laws in the UK. These powers have been created under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, although (at the date of writing), the commencement date and maximum amount for the fines are still to be determined (under separate regulations). This Act also leads the way for regulations to be made permitting prison sentences as a penalty for offences under the DPA.