To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints relating to data protection breaches were upheld by the Information Commissioner in each of the last five years.

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is enforced independently of Government by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and they have provided the data below.

The table details the number of data protection concerns reported to the ICO for each of the last five financial years (and for this financial year to date) and finished in that year. It also shows the percentage of those cases in which compliance with the DPA was thought unlikely, in accordance with section 42(1) of the DPA. This provides a duty for the ICO to make an assessment, if asked, as to whether it is likely or unlikely that the processing of personal data has been or is being carried out in compliance with the provisions of the DPA.

Before 2011/12, data was not collected separately for requests for advice and reported concerns. Therefore, the figures for 2009/10 and 2010/11 cover both advice and concerns, and the figures for 2011/12 onwards cover concerns only.