L53 Response Not Accepted Self-assessed

ICO Regard for Regulatory Membership

Recommendation

Specific provision should be made to the effect that, in considering the exercise of any of its powers in relation to the media or other publishers, the Information Commissioner's Office must have regard to the application to a data controller of any relevant system of regulation or standards enforcement which is contained in or recognised by statute.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Prime Minister's November 2012 statement (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report), the UK Government did not accept this recommendation, as he was "instinctively concerned" about proposals that could curb press freedom. According to UK Parliament records from May 2018, the Data Protection Act 2018 does not include a provision requiring the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to consider a publisher's membership of a recognised regulatory system when exercising its enforcement powers.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Not Accepted
Not Accepted UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012: "I am instinctively concerned about this proposal. There is a real danger of this recommendation being used to curb freedom of the press. We need to consider this very carefully - particularly the impact this could have on investigative journalism." The Data Protection Act 2018 retained a broad journalism exemption (Schedule 2, Part 5) and did not implement this specific recommendation. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report

Read Full Response
Note: PM David Cameron responded to all 92 recommendations with a single statement accepting them "in principle" or "in part". No per-recommendation response was published.
Published Evidence

Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Not Implemented
23 May 2018
UK Parliament legislation

The DPA 2018 does not require the ICO to have regard to a publisher's membership of a recognised regulatory system when considering enforcement. The connection between regulatory membership and data protection enforcement that Leveson envisioned was not implemented.

View detailed findings

Not implemented. No link between regulatory membership and ICO enforcement.

Data Protection Act 2018 View Source
Source
Inquiry Leveson Inquiry
Report An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press 29 Nov 2012
View Source
Responsible Bodies
UK Government Primary
Themes & Tags
Personal data privacy risks Discriminatory media reporting oversight ICO Data Protection Press Regulation Standards
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago