The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has agreed to reduce the £500,000 monetary penalty notice imposed on the Cabinet Office in 2021 in relation to the New Year Honours data breach to £50,000.
The Cabinet Office has agreed to pay the reduced fine and the ICO said this reflects its new approach to working more effectively with public authorities.
The fine was imposed in November 2021 following an investigation into the 2019 data breach, in which the Cabinet Office published a file on GOV.UK containing the names and unredacted addresses of more than 1,000 people announced in the New Year Honours list.
Personal data was available online for a period of two hours and 21 minutes and it was accessed 3,872 times.
The department appealed against the amount of the fine to the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) in December, alleging it was “wholly disproportionate”. The appeal related solely to the amount of the fine and the facts leading up to the imposition of the penalty were not in dispute.
Under the agreement reached between the parties, which has been approved by the tribunal, the ICO has agreed to the reduction in the amount.
Proportionality and deterrence
Information Commissioner John Edwards said: “While I consider the original fine was proportionate in all the circumstances of this case due to the potential impact on the people affected by the breach, I recognise the current economic pressures public bodies are facing, and the fact that in certain cases fines may be less critical in achieving deterrence.
“We welcome the agreement reached with the Cabinet Office and we will continue to work with them to ensure people’s information are being looked after.
“Since the fine was issued last year, I have adopted a new approach to working more effectively with public authorities to raise data protection standards. As I have explained, in certain circumstances large fines on their own may not be as effective a deterrent within the public sector.
“I am willing to use my discretion to reduce the amount of fines on the public sector in appropriate cases, coupled with better engagement including publicising lessons learned and sharing good practice.”
