| April 2006: |
we hired a new HR director, Vicky Best, with the brief to modernise the ICO’s HR practices. |
| May 2006: |
we launched the campaign for custodial sentences for the illegal buying and selling of
personal information, with our “What Price Privacy?” report. |
| May 2006: |
our view that the Scottish National Party’s marketing telephone calls are in breach of
electronic privacy regulations is upheld by the Information Tribunal. |
| May 2006: |
we issued our first enforcement notices under the Freedom of Information Act, requiring
the government to release information on the legality of the Iraq war. |
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May 2006: |
we hosted an international conference on freedom of information that attracted 140 delegates. |
| June 2006: |
we issued a new policy to simplify freedom of information publication schemes, with
proactive release of information as the focus of the initiative. |
| July 2006: |
we found the B4U website in breach of the Data Protection Act and issued an enforcement
notice against its use of electoral register information. |
| July 2006: |
we issued new guidance on the transfer of personal information overseas. |
| July 2006: |
we prosecuted a bogus caller for breaching the Data Protection Act; he is found guilty and
fined £600 plus costs. |
| July 2006: |
we prosecuted a finance company for failing to notify under the Data Protection Act. The
directors were found guilty and fined £300 each plus costs. |
| July 2006: |
we ordered the Health Protection Agency to release information about a case of
Legionnaire’s disease in a Malta hotel. |
| August 2006: |
we launched our new website. www.ico.gov.uk |
| August 2006: |
we issued new data protection guidance on direct marketing. |
| September 2006: |
we published research which showed eight out of 10 organisations said data protection
is needed. |
| September 2006: |
we ordered the disclosure of MPs’ travel expenses. |
| September 2006: |
we ruled that Ofcom must release data on mobile phone base stations. |
| September 2006: |
we issued new guidance on Radio Frequency Identification Tags. |
| October 2006: |
we investigated allegations that customers’ data is not properly protected in some
overseas call centres. |
| October 2006: |
we issued guidance on personal information and equality monitoring in Northern Ireland. |
| October 2006: |
the courts ordered two men to pay back money they gained by posing as a bogus data
protection agency. |
| November 2006: |
we hosted an international conference on the “Surveillance Society”. Held in London, the
conference attracted 300 delegates from 30 countries, and gained national and
international media coverage. |
| November 2006: |
David Smith, our deputy commissioner for data protection, is appointed chair of Europol’s
data protection joint supervisory body. |
| November 2006: |
we launched our new data protection training DVD. |
| November 2006: |
we prosecuted a husband and wife team for the illegal obtaining of personal information.
They were found guilty of 25 cases and fined over £7000 plus costs. |
| December 2006: |
we served enforcement notices against five companies for making illegal telesales calls. |
| December 2006: |
a man who illegally obtained and sold personal information was sentenced to 150 hours
community service. |
| December 2006: |
we ordered Derry Council to release information about an agreement with Ryanair under
the Freedom of Information Act. |
| December 2006: |
we issued our follow up report “What Price Privacy Now?” on the illegal buying and selling
of information, calling for a custodial sentence for the offence. |
| January 2007: |
we marked European Data Protection Day with the release of a series of public
information films warning against identity theft. |
| January 2007: |
we successfully prosecuted Liverpool City Council for failing to respond to an Information
Notice under the Data Protection Act. |
| January 2007: |
we required DEFRA to issue ministerial advice on salmon fishing. |
| January 2007: |
we ordered Braintree District Council to release information on the properties it owns, and
Liverpool City Council to release information relating to managed zones for prostitutes. |
| January 2007: |
we released data protection guidance for people working with violent members of
the public. |
| January 2007: |
we released new guidance on local authorities’ use of council tax information. |
| January 2007: |
we issued guidance explaining that young people have the right to see information held
about them by their school. |
| January 2007: |
we published research showing that a fifth of the UK population believes they had been a
victim of identity crime. |
| January 2007: |
we launched our new Personal information toolkit. |
| January 2007: |
four men sentenced to jail for their involvement in bogus data protection agencies. |
| February 2007: |
we issued data protection guidance for political party marketing in Wales and Scotland. |
| February 2007: |
we ruled that West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive was right to treat multiple
information requests as vexatious. |
| February 2007: |
we ordered the London Borough of Camden to release information on ASBOs. |
| March 2007: |
the Information Commissioner spoke at the International Association of Privacy
Professionals’ Summit in Washington, USA. |
| March 2007: |
we were hailed as the best data protection communicator in Europe. |
| March 2007: |
we found 11 banks in breach of the Data Protection Act. |
| March 2007: |
demand for our publications continued to rise – requests were up 38% over the previous year. |