ICO enforcement highlights the cost of ignoring subject access requests

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Recent enforcement by the ICO against Magnacrest Ltd highlights the cost of ignoring not only your own data subjects, but also the ICO.

Magancrest have been fined £300, with a victim surcharge of £30 and costs of £1133.75 for ignoring an enforcement notices from the ICO to deal with a subject access request, after an individual complained to the ICO about their request being ignored.

Subject access requests (or SARs) are one of a number of individuals’ rights in data protection which allow the data subject to request from an organisation any data they are processing about the individual along with an explanation of how it’s being processed. This is regardless of who the data subject is (so SAR apply equally to individuals in businesses as much as consumers).

Mike Shaw, the ICO’s Criminal Enforcement Manager, said:

“The right to access your own personal information is a fundamental and long-standing principle of data protection law. New laws brought into effect last May strengthen those rights even further.

“Organisations not only have to respect this right but must also respect notices from the ICO enforcing the law. If they fail to do so then they must accept the consequences, which can include a criminal prosecution.”

Unsure how you’re dealing with SAR, or even what to do when you receive one, then signing up to the Digital Compliance Hub can help – we provide support via email and phone as well as resources to help comply with all GDPR obligations, so if you’re unsure anytime about your obligations you can get the answers you need, when you need them – your data compliance, taken care of.

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