EC DEMANDS UK DPA ENFORCEMENT

According to EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding, "Having a watchdog with insufficient powers is like keeping your guard dog tied up in the basement," in reference to the UK Data Protection Directive’s perceived deficiencies. At the time she was giving the UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) two months to bring those enforcement provisions into line with the intent of the EU Directive created in 1995.

As for the EU Commission, major issues include the inability of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to investigate or randomly check companies or people who process data and the inability to enforce penalties on companies failing to properly protect data. The ICO also has no powers to investigate other countries' data protection practices.

The UK MoJ responded formally last week—on the deadline for responding—but is saying it would be inappropriate to comment during the negotiations with the Commission.