ICO (UK) - Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance

ICO (UK) - Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance

Authority:	ICO (UK)
Jurisdiction:	United Kingdom
Relevant Law:	Regulation 22 PECR 2003
Type:	Investigation
Outcome:	Violation Found
Started:
Decided:
Published:	01.02.2019
Fine:	120000 GBP
Parties:	Leave.EU Group Limited Eldon Insurance Services Limited
National Case Number/Name:	Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance
European Case Law Identifier:	n/a
Appeal:	Appealed - Confirmed Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) Leave.EU and Eldon v Information Commissioner
Original Language(s):	English
Original Source:	ICO (in EN)
Initial Contributor:	Frederick Antonovics

The UK DPA (ICO) fined Leave.EU, the Brexit campaign group, and Eldon Insurance, an insurance company, a total of approximately €140,900 (GBP 120,000) for serious breaches of the PECR and sending nearly 300,000 emails to Eldon customers with a Leave.EU newsletter.

English Summary

Facts

Leave.EU is a political pressure group that campaigned in favour of Brexit in the period leading to the 2016 referendum. Eldon Insurance Services Ltd is an insurance company.

The two companies "are distinct legal entities but also both members of a corporate group. The majority shareholder of the group’s parent company is Arron Banks, who is also the sole subscriber of Leave.EU. They have some directors in common, and members of Eldon staff were seconded to work for Leave.EU during the referendum campaign. At the time of the events giving rise to the breaches, the two companies were physically located in the same premises.

"As part of its campaigning for Brexit, Leave.EU has emailed regular newsletters (over 200 in number) to its subscribers. The present appeals, however, concern a total of just 21 separate newsletters, each of which was emailed to around 51,000 Leave.EU subscribers (so generating a total of a little over one million emails in all)."

Holding

The ICO fined Leave.EU about €52,800 (£45,000) and Eldon about €70,450 (£60,000) for carrying out two unlawful direct marketing campaigns, which involved the sending of over one million emails to Leave.EU subscribers without sufficient consent.

Further, it fined Leave.EU about €17,600 (£15,000) for using Eldon Insurance customers’ details unlawfully to send almost 300,000 political marketing messages. This breach was made possible the two companies were closely linked, and systems for segregating the personal data of insurance customers’ from that of political subscribers’ were ineffective.

It also announced that it would "audit the organisations to determine how they are using customers’ personal information."

Comment

The decision itself was not published, meaning the factual and legal analysis of this case can only be found in the Upper Tribunal decision (summarised here).

For further details about this case see: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/06/arron-banks-firm-and-leave-eu-face-135k-fine-over-data-misuse

Further Resources

Share blogs or news articles here!

English Machine Translation of the Decision

The decision below is a machine translation of the English original. Please refer to the English original for more details.

About the ICO/

News and events/

News and blogs/

ICO to audit data protection practices at Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance after fining both companies for unlawful marketing messages

Share(Opens Share panel)

Share this page

Share via Reddit
Share via LinkedIn
Share via email

Date
01 February 2019
Type
News

Update, 9 April 2019
Elizabeth Denham’s quote in this press release has been updated. It previously read:
“It is deeply concerning that sensitive personal data gathered for political purposes was later used for insurance purposes; and vice versa. It should never have happened.”
The quote has been updated to:
“It is deeply concerning that personal data gathered for political purposes was later used for insurance purposes. It should never have happened.”
We have updated the quote because, whilst the ICO believes there were unlawful practices taking place and that these practices led to the breaches as described within our Monetary Penalty Notices, the Commissioner cannot say conclusively that sensitive personal data was at risk of compromise, or that it was used for purposes other than for which it was obtained.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued fines totalling £120,000 to an EU referendum campaign and an insurance company for serious breaches of electronic marketing laws and is set to review how both are complying with data protection laws.
The ICO announced an audit and issued a preliminary enforcement notice as well as three notices of intent to fine Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance trading as Go Skippy Insurance, in November 2018 as part of its investigation into data analytics for political purposes.
After considering the companies’ representations, the ICO has issued the fines, confirming a change to one amount, with the other two remaining unchanged. The regulator has also issued two assessment notices to Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance to inform both organisations that they will be audited.
The ICO investigation found that Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance were closely linked. Systems for segregating the personal data of insurance customers’ from that of political subscribers’ were ineffective.
This resulted in Leave.EU using Eldon Insurance customers’ details unlawfully to send almost 300,000 political marketing messages. Leave.EU has been fined £15,000 for this breach.
Eldon Insurance carried out two unlawful direct marketing campaigns. The campaigns involved the sending of over one million emails to Leave.EU subscribers without sufficient consent. Leave.EU has been fined £45,000 and Eldon Insurance has been fined £60,000 for the breach.
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner said:

“It is deeply concerning that personal data gathered for political purposes was later used for insurance purposes. It should never have happened.
“We have been told both organisations have made improvements and learned from these events. But the ICO will now audit the organisations to determine how they are using customers’ personal information.”

The assessment notices allow the ICO access to Leave.EU and Eldon’s joint offices, staff, and documentation. It is a criminal offence to obstruct an ICO audit or destroy information covered by it.
The ICO’s audit team will be looking at data protection practices including observing how personal data is processed, considering what policies and procedures are in place and looking at the types of training made available for staff. They will also be interviewing key employees across both organisations including the directors, staff and their data protection officers. The ICO’s audit findings will be made public at the conclusion of its work.
Eldon Insurance has also received an enforcement notice from the ICO ordering the company to take steps to ensure it complies with electronic marketing regulations.
The ICO has published two reports as part of its wide-ranging data analytics investigation. Democracy Disrupted? Personal information and political influence looks at the broader policy issues identified during the investigation along with findings and the Information Commissioner’s recommendations for future action. Investigation into the use of data analytics in political campaigns is the latest update for the investigation.
If you need more information, please contact the ICO press office on 0303 123 9070, or visit the media section on our website.
Notes to Editors

The Information Commissioner’s Office upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
The ICO has specific responsibilities set out in the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new data protection law which came into force in the UK from 25 May 2018. It sits alongside the Data Protection Act 2018. The Act also includes measures related to wider data protection reforms in areas not covered by the GDPR, such as law enforcement and security. The UK’s decision to leave the EU has not affected the commencement of the GDPR.
The GDPR and the DPA2018 gives the ICO new strengthened powers, including widened assessment notice powers.
Assessment notices allow the ICO to inspect a company’s data protection practices. An organisation has 28 days to appeal an assessment notice if they think it has been issued incorrectly. Appeals are made to the Information Rights Tribunal.
Anyone failing to comply with an assessment notice may be fined up to around £17million of 4% of total annual worldwide turnover, whichever is higher.
These monetary penalties (MPs) were served under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, the laws which govern electronic marketing. The ICO has the power under PECR to impose a monetary penalty on a data controller of up to £500,000. It’s illegal to send out marketing emails without consent.
Monetary penalties are subject to a right of appeal to the (First-tier Tribunal) General Regulatory Chamber against the imposition of the monetary penalty and/or the amount of the penalty specified in the monetary penalty notice.
Any monetary penalty is paid into the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund and is not kept by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
To report a concern to the ICO, visit ico.org.uk/concerns.

About the ICO/

News and events/

News and blogs/

ICO to audit data protection practices at Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance after fining both companies for unlawful marketing messages

Share(Opens Share panel)

Share this page

Share via Reddit
Share via LinkedIn
Share via email

Date
01 February 2019
Type
News

Update, 9 April 2019
Elizabeth Denham’s quote in this press release has been updated. It previously read:
“It is deeply concerning that sensitive personal data gathered for political purposes was later used for insurance purposes; and vice versa. It should never have happened.”
The quote has been updated to:
“It is deeply concerning that personal data gathered for political purposes was later used for insurance purposes. It should never have happened.”
We have updated the quote because, whilst the ICO believes there were unlawful practices taking place and that these practices led to the breaches as described within our Monetary Penalty Notices, the Commissioner cannot say conclusively that sensitive personal data was at risk of compromise, or that it was used for purposes other than for which it was obtained.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued fines totalling £120,000 to an EU referendum campaign and an insurance company for serious breaches of electronic marketing laws and is set to review how both are complying with data protection laws.
The ICO announced an audit and issued a preliminary enforcement notice as well as three notices of intent to fine Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance trading as Go Skippy Insurance, in November 2018 as part of its investigation into data analytics for political purposes.
After considering the companies’ representations, the ICO has issued the fines, confirming a change to one amount, with the other two remaining unchanged. The regulator has also issued two assessment notices to Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance to inform both organisations that they will be audited.
The ICO investigation found that Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance were closely linked. Systems for segregating the personal data of insurance customers’ from that of political subscribers’ were ineffective.
This resulted in Leave.EU using Eldon Insurance customers’ details unlawfully to send almost 300,000 political marketing messages. Leave.EU has been fined £15,000 for this breach.
Eldon Insurance carried out two unlawful direct marketing campaigns. The campaigns involved the sending of over one million emails to Leave.EU subscribers without sufficient consent. Leave.EU has been fined £45,000 and Eldon Insurance has been fined £60,000 for the breach.
Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner said:

“It is deeply concerning that personal data gathered for political purposes was later used for insurance purposes. It should never have happened.
“We have been told both organisations have made improvements and learned from these events. But the ICO will now audit the organisations to determine how they are using customers’ personal information.”

The assessment notices allow the ICO access to Leave.EU and Eldon’s joint offices, staff, and documentation. It is a criminal offence to obstruct an ICO audit or destroy information covered by it.
The ICO’s audit team will be looking at data protection practices including observing how personal data is processed, considering what policies and procedures are in place and looking at the types of training made available for staff. They will also be interviewing key employees across both organisations including the directors, staff and their data protection officers. The ICO’s audit findings will be made public at the conclusion of its work.
Eldon Insurance has also received an enforcement notice from the ICO ordering the company to take steps to ensure it complies with electronic marketing regulations.
The ICO has published two reports as part of its wide-ranging data analytics investigation. Democracy Disrupted? Personal information and political influence looks at the broader policy issues identified during the investigation along with findings and the Information Commissioner’s recommendations for future action. Investigation into the use of data analytics in political campaigns is the latest update for the investigation.
If you need more information, please contact the ICO press office on 0303 123 9070, or visit the media section on our website.
Notes to Editors

The Information Commissioner’s Office upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
The ICO has specific responsibilities set out in the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new data protection law which came into force in the UK from 25 May 2018. It sits alongside the Data Protection Act 2018. The Act also includes measures related to wider data protection reforms in areas not covered by the GDPR, such as law enforcement and security. The UK’s decision to leave the EU has not affected the commencement of the GDPR.
The GDPR and the DPA2018 gives the ICO new strengthened powers, including widened assessment notice powers.
Assessment notices allow the ICO to inspect a company’s data protection practices. An organisation has 28 days to appeal an assessment notice if they think it has been issued incorrectly. Appeals are made to the Information Rights Tribunal.
Anyone failing to comply with an assessment notice may be fined up to around £17million of 4% of total annual worldwide turnover, whichever is higher.
These monetary penalties (MPs) were served under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, the laws which govern electronic marketing. The ICO has the power under PECR to impose a monetary penalty on a data controller of up to £500,000. It’s illegal to send out marketing emails without consent.
Monetary penalties are subject to a right of appeal to the (First-tier Tribunal) General Regulatory Chamber against the imposition of the monetary penalty and/or the amount of the penalty specified in the monetary penalty notice.
Any monetary penalty is paid into the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund and is not kept by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
To report a concern to the ICO, visit ico.org.uk/concerns.

EnglishCymraegEnglishCymraeg