L64 Response Accepted in Part AI-assessed

ICO Engage with Metropolitan Police

Recommendation

The Information Commissioner's Office should take immediate steps to engage with the Metropolitan Police on the preparation of a long-term strategy in relation to alleged media crime with a view to ensuring that the Office is well placed to fulfil any necessary role in this respect in the future, and in particular in the aftermath of Operations Weeting, Tuleta and Elveden.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to ICO / Metropolitan Police (27 February 2025), the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) engaged with the Metropolitan Police on a long-term strategy for alleged media crime following Operations Weeting, Tuleta, and Elveden, and the ICO has since developed its approach to media crime enforcement. According to gov.uk (29 November 2012), the Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 124) also required the ICO to produce a data protection and journalism code of practice, which was published in 2023.
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

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.

Confirmed Completed
27 Feb 2025
ICO / Metropolitan Police Other

The ICO engaged with the Metropolitan Police on strategy following Operations Weeting, Tuleta and Elveden. These operations concluded and the ICO developed its approach to media crime enforcement.

View detailed findings

ICO-Metropolitan Police engagement on media crime strategy occurred, as recommended.

ICO enforcement approach 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
Information Commissioner Primary
Themes & Tags
Personal data privacy risks Discriminatory media reporting oversight Police investigation management ICO Data Protection Police Media Crime
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago