The Information Commissioner’s Office is to target
accountancy firms in a crackdown on breaches of the Data Protection
Act.
The legislation requires data controllers to notify the ICO, at
a cost of £35 a year, to enable the watchdog to maintain a public
register data controllers.
But the ICO says “only a minority” of accountants have notified,
although failure to do so is a breach of the act that can result in
a fine of up to £5,000.
The move comes after the successful prosecution of a solicitor
under the act in March. Senior partner Ralph Harold Donner was
taken to court after his firm, Feld Mackay and Donner, failed to
notify. Following a guilty plea at a magistrates court, he was
fined £3,150 and ordered to pay £3,500 costs. Although the fine was
reduced on appeal to £1,000 the full legal costs were upheld.
An ICO spokesperson said, “Our research shows that only 45-50%
of accountants have notified us. Failure to notify us once a year
is an offence, but we'll try to make it as easy as possible for
firms who are late in doing so. But if there is no notification at
all, we will enforce the law.”
