Data Watchdog To Discuss £550k Fines At Security Show

The Office of the Information Commissioner will talk about the data protection watchdog’s new powers will affect UK businesses later this month.

Deputy Information Commissioner David Smith will be one of the keynote speakers at the InfoSecurity Europe conference and exhibition in London next week. Smith’s speech should provide attendees with more information on how the ICO intends to wield new powers which give it the ability to levy a £500,000 fine on companies which fail to protect confidential data.

“This year’s opening address will cover the increased powers of the Information Commissioner, to assess organisations’ compliance with data protection laws and new powers to impose fines of up to £500,000 for significant breaches,” the Infosecurity site states.

Companies Facing Data Protection Fines

The ICO’s powers were set out by The Ministry of Justice last November in a consultation paper dubbed the “Civil monetary penalties: setting the maximum penalty”, aimed at “data controllers and their representative bodies”. The ICO was eventually granted its new powers in January, although the actual ability to levy fines did not come into force until 6 April.

Commenting on the introduction of the new powers, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said: “I remain committed to working with voluntary, public and private bodies to help them stick to the rules and comply with the Act. But I will not hesitate to use these tough new sanctions for the most serious cases where organisations disregard the law.”

Also speaking at the Infosecurity event which runs from the 27 to the 29th of April in London’s Earls Court are numerous chief information and chief security officers from businesses including The Salvation Army, financial services company Santander, airline Lufthansa and Barclays banking group.

As well as an exhibition showcasing security technology, the show’s education programme will focus on issues such as data breaches and converged threats. The results of an IT security survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers will also be revealed.

Show Will Feature War Stories And Stats

“The survey provides statistics and war-stories about the security breaches suffered by UK organisations, and also the measures that firms are taking to protect themselves. The survey also examines emerging trends such as botnets, social networking, use of software as a service, cloud computing and data loss prevention,” according to the Infosecurity site.

Law enforcement will also be represented at the show by Charlie McMurdie, detective superintendant, Police Central e-Crime Unit, New Scotland Yard.

The show’s organisers were approached on whether the current flight suspension could impact the event but did not reply in time for this article.