Taxpayers’ money is being used to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds of fines imposed on councils for data protection breaches. In the past two months, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined councils more than £350,000 for falling foul of laws.
Defending the decisions the ICO said the purpose of monetary penalties is to act as a deterrent to serious non-compliance with data protection obligations. “The best way a public authority can protect taxpayers’ money is by not being lax in the way it looks after personal information,” said an ICO spokesman.
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