We have carefully selected relevant news stories that you should be aware of from May 2019.
GDPR fines ‘coming soon’ after complaints double warns ICO
28th May 2019: More than 14,000 data breaches have been logged in the UK during the first year under the GDPR and fines are approaching, the ICO has said. Since its introduction on May 25 last year and the beginning of May 2019 the ICO said it have received a total of 14,072 data breach notifications, four times more than it logged from April 2017 to 2018.
The ICO has handed out fines to 29 companies in the last 12 months, or 0.25 per cent of breaches. But an ICO spokeswoman has said that there are more to be issued once the necessary legal processes have been completed (BusinessCloud).
One year on GDPR is shaping the role of privacy in brand survival
24th May 2019: When the European Union first announced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) huge concerns bubbled for a few years before coming to a head just before 25 May 2018. This near-hysteria was fuelled by the spectre of massive fines, as well as an underlying sense of mystery around how it would affect companies and business processes.
Despite big fines levied, Citrix’s chief digital risk officer, Peter Lefkowitz says we still don’t have a sense of what enforcement will look like (ITPRO).
GDPR fines levied so far: The lessons businesses can learn
23rd May 2019: After one year of enforcement of the GDPR, businesses can learn much from how the provisions of the regulation have been applied and how organizations have been fined. European data protection authorities confirm that almost 90,000 separate data breach notifications have been received. Note, that’s just the notifications received from organization’s attempting to comply with the GDPR. Those same data protection authorities report that during the same year almost 145,000 complaints and inquiries have been reported by concerned citizens (TechRepublic).
UK Fraud Complaints Surge Over 40%
16th May 2019: UK consumers’ complaints over banking fraud have surged by over 40% to hit an all-time high in the 2018-19 financial year, driven by online scams, according to official figures. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which settles disputes between customers and their banks, said it received 12,195 complaints over the period, a 43% increase on the 6952 in the previous 12 months.
A new voluntary code of practice will come into force at the end of May designed to help victims of APP fraud get their money back more easily. Up until now, banks have been reluctant to pay out in such cases and often blame the individual (InfoSecurity Magazine).
UKGC cracks AML whip issuing £4.5m penalty packages for ‘weak controls’
15th May 2019: The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has imposed £4.5 million in penalty packages on four online casino operators in relation to failed AML procedures and maintaining inadequate consumer safeguards. The penalty packages form part of the Commission’s ongoing investigation into the UK online casino sector.
Over the past 18 months, the UKGC has conducted assessments of 123 online operators – and of the 45 told to submit an action plan to raise standards 38 have already shown signs of improvement. In addition, a further 34 were compliant with standards expected by the Commission or had minor issues which have been remedied (SBCNEWS).
GambleAware commits a further £3.9m funding towards problem gambling treatment
14th May 2019: Industry charity GambleAware has confirmed that it will be fronting an additional £3.9m in funding towards the expansion of the National Gambling Treatment Service. The funding, which is set to continue for up to three years, will be provided to GamCare and its network of partners across Great Britain (SBCNEWS).
UKGC rolls out new framework assessing problem gambling impact on young people
3rd May 2019: In addition to its National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has released a new ‘framework for action’ researching gambling harm among children and young audiences (SBCNEWS).
We hope that you found the above update useful. Please let us know if there are any topics you want to hear more or less about.
