Of the 2,565 data breaches identified by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) since April 2010, "only 36 have resulted in a punishment--and only four have resulted in financial penalties," The Guardian reports. An ICO spokesman said getting organisations to comply with the Data Protection Act "isn't always best achieved by issuing organisations or businesses with monetary penalties." Just this week, the ICO announced breaches at Norwich City College, Freehold Community School and NHS Birmingham East and North. A Christchurch nurse was also found guilty of misconduct for inappropriate access of medical records. The ICO defends its actions, and the acting head of enforcement said, "organisations have a legal responsibility to abide by the principles of the DPA."
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