Solicitors targeted in data protection drive
27 Jun 06
Information Commissioner set to sanction non-registering firms
Scottish solicitors who have failed to register under the Data Protection Act are about to find action being taken against them by the UK Information Commissioner.
The Commissioner's office in Wilmslow, Cheshire is targeting unregistered solicitors' and accountants' firms on a regional basis. After going through the lists of Northern Irish firms they are moving on to Scotland, tackling legal firms before moving on to accountants.
The Commissioner believes that as many as one third of solicitors' firms may still be unregistered. A first batch of 137 letters has already been sent, advising firms that they are not registered. If there is no response within three weeks, a second letter warns that failure to reply within a further 14 days will result in details being passed on to the investigations team.
The annual fee for registration is £35. Fines for non-compliance can be in the four-figure range.
For information on registration, see http://www.ico.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=34 .