Law firm RPC have published research which suggests that the average data protection fine collected by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has risen by 14% since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) just last year.
The GDPR was put in place on 25 May 2018, it came with additional rules for businesses in regards to holding personal data and keeping it safe. Since the introduction of the GDPR, the ICO ‘is becoming more willing to levy bigger fines’ states RPC. They follow this up by claiming that the average fine has increased from £125,000 in 2017/18 to £143,000 in 2018/19.
Quote from Nigel Holland:
“With the new rules on data protection, all businesses need to be even more strict about safeguarding person data. Although business received fines prior to the introduction of the GDPR, the new rules have made the ICO more likely impose fines and at a much higher rate.”