If you can't beat em, join em?
To people saying the ICO should have fined Facebook even more, and that Facebook have gotten off lightly, you have totally missed the point.
A tribunal judge had already ruled that there was grounds for an appeal based on the personal bias of the commissioner Denham. They embarrassingly had to let Facebook have access to their procedures which Facebook would then have presented in court and would have shown the illegal and incompetent way the investigation was handled. Denham would have looked ridiculous making large statements that she couldn't back up with fact, simply to get the public's vote.
Don't get me wrong, I think there are countless things to penalize Facebook and other tech giants for and much that they have to change. But to approach it with personal bias against Zuckerberg and Facebook shows gross incompetence and just enables Facebook to continue what they are doing. Anyone investigating a tech giant must first understand the legals absolutely, as you can be sure the tech giants know the law backwards! You take a shot at the king, you best not miss.
Today's agreement is Zuckerbergs gift to Denham, allowing her to save face and not be dragged into the public spotlight for bias and incompetence. What Denham privately agreed with Facebook in order to get Facebook to drop it, would surely be interesting to see. Has Denham learned that it's better to get the tech giant on side rather than fight them? Has Zuckerberg sold out everyone else to the ICO in return for the ICO turning a blind eye to everything else? Who knows.
I know one thing though. Any FOI requests from the ICO regarding the topic, will surely be denied. But don't worry, you can always appeal to the ICO to review their decision. And the ICO don't have a history of bias, do they??!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
