\u201cThe ICO finds itself well positioned to be seen as an influential regulator\u201d \u2014 Eduardo Ustaran, Hogan Lovells law firm<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Industry executives, British lawmakers and other countries\u2019 privacy regulators expect the ICO\u2019s response to the recent scandal will shape how other watchdogs, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which has launched a separate probe into the allegations, will handle misuses of personal data.<\/p>\n It also will shape perceptions about how serious the U.K. is about data protection \u2014 a vital prerequisite to a post-Brexit deal to keep data worth billions of pounds in trade flowing with the European Union, United States and others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ICO finds itself well positioned to be seen as an influential regulator,\u201d said Eduardo Ustaran, co-director of the global privacy and cybersecurity practice at Hogan Lovells, a law firm in London. \u201cIt\u2019s a very firm and powerful regulator, which will only bark once and then will bite.\u201d<\/p>\n Denham, a Canadian who previously ran British Columbia\u2019s data protection authority, has carved out a reputation as an active enforcer.<\/p>\n In the fallout from the U.K.\u2019s referendum on leaving the European Union, she began an investigation into how data may have been used to sway potential voters during the 2016 vote. The most recent revelations linked to Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, the ICO confirmed, will be included in that existing probe, which is expected to report back to U.K. lawmakers by late spring.<\/p>\n Traffic passes the shared building that houses the offices of Cambridge Analytica in central London on March 21, 2018 | Daniel Leal-Olivas\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cWith big data, cloud computing and analytics, old-fashioned data collection has shifted significantly and maybe without taking voters with it,\u201d Denham told the British parliament<\/a> in January. \u201cMore data is available to political parties, but it\u2019s unclear how they can use it.\u201d<\/p>\n But Denham\u2019s ability to investigate Facebook and Cambridge Analytica hinges on her ability to gather evidence \u2014 an area where she has run into roadblocks. Before media revelations<\/a> outlined over the weekend how Cambridge Analytica had used a Cambridge University researcher to gather information on U.S. citizens through an app download onto people\u2019s smartphones, Denham had issued a \u201cdemand for access\u201d \u2014 a warrant with notice \u2014 to Cambridge Analytica.<\/p>\n It was not answered by the company. Denham announced Monday, after the story regained prominence, that she was seeking a warrant to obtain the information and access to evidence. Now, her request has been delayed until Friday after a High Court judge sought an adjournment.<\/a><\/p>\n The bureaucratic hurdles meant that she was forced to stop Facebook carrying out its own audit of Cambridge Analytica\u2019s premises earlier this week. The move would \u201cpotentially compromise a regulatory investigation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Brendan O\u2019Hara, a Scottish National Party MP and member of digital select committee, which has been probing the use of data in election campaigning as part of its \u201cfake news\u201d inquiry, said that Denham was doing her best to gather information. But, he added, the U.K. regulator lacked sufficient powers to obtain a rapid search warrant.<\/p>\n Denham has issued eight fines in the first three quarters of the financial year ending in April | Chris J Ratcliffe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI think that the the U.K. has to recognize the world in which we now live in and we have to be a bit more fleet of foot in terms of getting emergency warrants for the information commissioner in circumstances such as this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At a recent hearing<\/a> of the fake news inquiry, Denham herself warned that organizations that refuse to cooperate could \u201cbuy themselves out of compliance with an investigation\u201d through a fine. \u201cI actually want the information in an inquisitorial investigation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As Britain\u2019s chief data protection officer, Denham has shown a willingness to impose fines on companies found in breach of privacy rules. John Whittingdale, the U.K. culture secretary responsible for her appointment, said that she had been picked because she had demonstrated she was \u201cprepared to take a tough line where necessary\u201d in her previous job in Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cI think certainly we felt we needed somebody who we felt would be a bit more proactive and was capable of taking more of a public role and be able to explain and defend the role of the information commission, take quite a strong line in enforcing data protection rules,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n So far, Denham has issued eight fines<\/a> in the first three quarters of the financial year ending in April, including a hefty penalty against TalkTalk, a local mobile phone carrier, for failing to protect people\u2019s digital information.<\/p>\n Lawyers and EU officials also praised Denham for taking a \u201cpragmatic\u201d approach to enforcement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In her first annual report, published last year, she also boasted of having issued more penalties for breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, British privacy legislation, than ever before. In total, the ICO issued 16 civil monetary penalties totaling \u00a31.6 million for serious breaches of the data protection principles across both public and private sectors, according to regulatory filings.<\/p>\n Such willingness to fine companies for breaking British and European data protection rules, which are some of the toughest anywhere in the world, has won her plaudits from others in Europe. Willem Debeuckelaere, the Belgian data protection chief, for instance, said that Denham was a \u201cstrong woman, someone you can actually get things done with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s very efficient, very clear, and clearly raises the bar,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n A senior figure in the U.K. tech industry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about his organization\u2019s dealings with the regulator, agreed that there was \u201cquite a lot of steel there.\u201d<\/p>\n Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Menlo Park, California | Josh Edelson\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cShe is very highly regarded by policymakers, by her fellow data protection community across Europe and internationally, and also by the industry,\u201d the person added.<\/p>\n Lawyers and EU officials also praised Denham for taking a \u201cpragmatic\u201d approach to enforcement, which they contrasted with at times overly aggressive practices by other authorities. O\u2019Hara, the British lawmaker, said it was essential the U.K. was not seen as \u201cpart of the Wild West of data regulation and data protection,\u201d warning that the U.K. must be seen to be \u201cadhering to the gold standard in terms of data protection.\u201d<\/p>\n But Denham now faces one of the biggest tests of her career.<\/p>\n While it remains unclear if Facebook or Cambridge Analytic breached the U.K.\u2019s privacy standards, the ICO \u2014 which has 527 employees for all its functions \u2014 may not have the financial resources to cope with the global investigation, particularly as it is struggling to hold onto employees now leaving in droves for higher salaries in the private sector.<\/a><\/p>\n Currently, the British regulator has 10 people working on its existing investigation into how data may have been misused in the Brexit referendum, according to statements by Denham to British politicians.<\/p>\n A poster of Cambridge Analytica\u2019s CEO Alexander Nix at the firm\u2019s office in London | Daniel Leal-Olivas\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n Maurice Frankel, a director at the Campaign for Freedom of Information, an advocacy group, said that the upcoming revamp to Europe\u2019s data protection standards, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, and the U.K.\u2019s own Data Protection Bill, which is currently going through the U.K. parliament, meant that Denham\u2019s office also is under particular pressure before the May 25 deadline, when all of this new legislation comes into force.<\/p>\n \u201cIn comparison to Facebook and Google and so on, the information commissioner is a very small organization,\u201d Frankel said. \u201cAlthough they have the legal powers, they are very heavily outgunned in terms of the resources and the funding for legal costs available to some of the people on the other side of the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n Laurens Cerulus contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n Original Article<\/a><\/p>\n [contf] [contfnew] LONDON \u2014 When Elizabeth Denham became the U.K.\u2019s privacy reg..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech"],"yoast_head":"\nLack of powers<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/GettyImages-935600400-714x476.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/GettyImages-935591172-714x444.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nReputation to live up to<\/h3>\n
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![](\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GettyImages-165540924-714x469.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nDavid vs. Goliath<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"