Leave.EU / Arron Banks loses appeal over £105,000 fine for data misuse
The Guardian reports the latest on the fines levied against Leave.EU and one of Arron Bank’s firms:
The Leave.EU campaign and the insurance company owned by the political group’s key financial backer, Arron Banks, have lost an appeal against £105,000 of fines for data protection violations in the wake of the EU referendum campaign…
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) had said then that the two organisations were closely linked, with “ineffective” systems for segregating the data of insurance customers from that of political subscribers.
Leave.EU was also fined £15,000 for using Eldon Insurance customers’ details unlawfully to send out almost 300,000 political marketing messages, before the referendum. An initial appeal against that ruling was withdrawn in May 2019…
The latest tribunal ruling noted findings of a previous court that both companies have a “confusingly two-faced approach to regulation” of personal data. It also noted that Banks had admitted being “untruthful”, and used a “bullying tone” in correspondence about the case.
It’s quite the list of pro-Leave campaigners who have been involved in breaking the law.
UPDATE: They’ve run out of money.
Thank you for sharing this interesting information on the Leave.EU campaign and the insurance company owned by the political group’s key financial backer, Arron Banks. I remember hearing about this in Private Eye. It’s a shame the Guardian did not broadcast this terrible Leave.EU campaign earlier.
Do we know how and by whom the fine will be enforced ?