Shane Chambers No Comments

First Large GDPR-Era Fine Handed Down to British Airways (£183m)

In a move that is likely to shock corporations in Europe and beyond, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined British Airways (BA) just over £183 million, due to a 2018 data breach in which personal data belonging to 500,000 of its’ customers was compromised. The move marks the first large fine handed down to a company since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect in May of last year and, shockingly, was less than 50% of the maximum fine that the ICO could have set for BA.

In 2018, British Airways suffered a breach that exposed credit card info, names, addresses, travel details and login credentials for 500,000 customers
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Shane Chambers No Comments

Consent is Always Required – Busting that GDPR Myth

With the GDPR now less than 8 months away from becoming enforceable, businesses all over the EU and indeed any company that conducts business with EU citizens are scrambling to prepare in time for the legislation. The upcoming General Data Protection Regulation was designed to give back clarity and control to users about how their sensitive data is being processed and held, but has led to quite a bit of confusion for businesses about how this will actually work. Most people will have heard about the increased fines, as regulators can now fines offending bodies up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover, but there is a lot of confusion and indeed misinformation and misinterpretation out there to make the process even more difficult. To this end, there’s a few things we’d like to set the record straight on, particular around consent. Over the coming weeks and months we hope to provide more guidance of areas prone to misinterpretation, so stay tuned!

Myth: You must always have consent to process someone personal data.


With the stakes so high, it can be hard to tell the difference between important guidance and scaremongering when it comes to the GDPR

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Shane Chambers 1 Comment

ICO Less Likely to Issue Fines to Companies Who Train Staff

The Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK has issued a statement that organisations who train their staff in data security will be less likely to receive a fine or monetary penalty. The ICO recommends that at least 80% of an organisation’s staff are trained on how to handle sensitive data and keep it secure from data breaches, with a spokeswoman stating that “reasonable steps” must be taken to secure data, with “full account of the facts” taken into consideration in the event of a data breach being discovered.


At least 80% of an organisation’s staff should be trained on keeping data secure. Human error remains the top cause of data breaches.

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