UK data spillers fined, but enforcement slows: £5m in ICO penalties not yet paid

More than half of data protection fines issued by the Information Commissioner's Office over the last two years, totalling more than £5m, have not been paid. Of the 47 fines issued by the ICO since January 2020, 27 – 57 per cent – have not been paid off. These add up to £5.1m owed to the government's treasury (the ICO doesn't …

[Anonymous Coward]

Nuisence Call Companies

They know what they are doing as it is the same directors who liquidate then spin up another identical company, time to pierce the corporate veil and bankrupt the fuckers rather than letting them get away with it constantly.

[Dwarf]

Add the costs of recovery to their fine. If they can't pay, then jail them.

There needs to be a hard line on the fines otherwise they are meaningless.

There used to be an old line - If you can't do the time, then don't do the crime.

[Paratrooping Parrot]

I am sure that if I as an ordinary member of the public didn't pay a parking fine issued by the council, then I have a feeling there would be some major repercussions for me. Yet these directors always seem to get away with it!

[dave 81]

"..watchdog spent £138,000 hunting down scofflaws who tried to evade a £40,000 fine."

The fine isn't about revenue, its about punishment. So sometimes this will happen.

The problem is always when fines become a revenue stream, the people imposing the fines can't be trusted to be impartial. (Thanks again Tony for letting the police keep the fines and letting Gordon squeeze their budgets. )

[David Pearce]

administrative penalty

It might not send you to prison, but why can't owing these fines disqualify you as a suitable person to be a director?

[Zippy´s Sausage Factory]

Re: administrative penalty

<cynicism alert>

I suspect the probability of that becoming law is directly proportional to the number of those who stand to be affected who also happen to be large Conservative party donors...

</cynicism alert>

[Warm Braw]

Re: administrative penalty

why can't owing these fines disqualify you

Under the circumstances in which directors do get disqualified, new companies still spring up in the name of Mrs. Disqualified or Mr. Disqualified-Nephew. Prison would probably be a more effective option, but even that isn't infallible.

[WhiteDragon43]

Old Fashioned Treatment/Punishment

The old stocks with a supply of festering veg, curdled eggs, offal gone off, dog poo collections - as a monthly local fete with free admission - should be quite popular with an alternative to public subscription to witness a public tar and feathering of the bollock naked culprits and a forced parade of shame through the streets. The TV companies would cough up for permission to serialize the shaming, makes for an effective deterrent.

[Cuddles]

Less effective?

"Compared year-on-year, the figures tend to show that ICO fine enforcement has got less effective"

Do they? Seems like the opposite to me. This time last year, 68% of fines were unpaid. This year, 57% are unpaid. Sure, the total amount missing is higher, but the proportion recovered (and therefore obviously also the absolute amount) is higher.