L59 Response Accepted in Part AI-assessed

ICO Good Practice Guidelines

Recommendation

In discharge of its functions and duties to promote good practice in areas of public concern, the Information Commissioner's Office should take immediate steps, in consultation with the industry, to prepare and issue comprehensive good practice guidelines and advice on appropriate principles and standards to be observed by the press in the processing of personal data. This should be prepared and implemented within six months from the date of this Report.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the ICO's January 2023 records, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) published comprehensive good practice guidelines for the press on data protection through its Data Protection and Journalism Code of Practice in 2023. While these guidelines were issued over a decade after the Leveson Inquiry's recommended six-month timeframe, they address the call for advice on principles and standards for processing personal data.
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
Accepted in Part
Accepted in Part UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The Prime Minister did not specifically address ICO operational recommendations in his 29 November 2012 statement. The Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 124) required the ICO to produce a data protection and journalism code of practice, which was published in 2023. The ICO has acted on several of these recommendations through its statutory functions. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report

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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.

Confirmed Completed
01 Jan 2023
ICO Other

The ICO published comprehensive good practice guidelines for the press on data protection through the Data Protection and Journalism Code of Practice (2023). While this came much later than Leveson's recommended six-month timeframe, the guidelines now exist.

View detailed findings

Good practice guidelines published, though over a decade after Leveson's recommended six-month deadline.

ICO Data Protection and Journalism Code of Practi… View Source
Source
Report An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press 29 Nov 2012
Responsible Bodies
Information Commissioner Primary
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago