Agreement Reached Between ICO and Cabinet Office on Reduced Fine Following New Year Honours Data Breach

This article reports on an agreement between the UK Information Commissioner (ICO) and the Cabinet Office in which the ICO has agreed to reduce their fine from £100,000 to £50,000 for a data breach incident involving the 2019 New Year Honours list. The personal data of more than 1,000 people was made available online for two hours and twenty-one minutes and accessed 3,872 times. The Cabinet Office had appealed against the amount of the fine, claiming it was “wholly disproportionate”. However, under the agreement reached between the parties, which has been approved by the Tribunal, the ICO has agreed to a reduction in the amount of the fine to £50,000. The appeal before the Tribunal has been dismissed and the hearing vacated. The UK Information Commissioner expressed that while they still consider the original fine to be proportionate, they recognize the current economic pressures faced by public bodies and that in certain cases fines may be less critical in achieving deterrence.