L66 Response Accepted in Part AI-assessed

ICO Organisation Review

Recommendation

The Information Commissioner's Office should take the opportunity to review its organisation and decision-making processes to ensure that large-scale issues, with both strategic and operational dimensions (including the relationship between the culture, practices and ethics of the press in relation to personal information on the one hand, and the application of the data protection regime to the press on the other) can be satisfactorily considered and addressed in the round.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to ICO (27 February 2025), the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has reorganised its structure and updated its decision-making processes since 2012. According to ICO (27 February 2025), these changes include improved handling of large-scale strategic issues and matters related to the press and personal information. 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 Other

The ICO has reorganised and updated its decision-making processes since 2012, including improved handling of large-scale strategic issues and press-related matters.

View detailed findings

ICO organisational review completed.

ICO organisation and governance 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 ICO Data Protection Organisation Governance
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago