
UK charities fined for data law breach
Eleven charities have been fined by the UK’s data watchdog for misusing information about millions of past donors to seek further funds.
Those fined include Oxfam, Cancer Research UK, The Royal British Legion and Battersea Dogs’ and Cats’ Home.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said the organisations had secretly pieced together data from various sources and traded personal details to target new and lapsed donors.
It said they must obey the law.
But it limited the individual fines to between £6,000 and £18,000 because donors could be unhappy at more punitive fines.
“[Victims] will be upset to learn the way their personal information has been analysed and shared by charities they trusted with their details and their donations,” said Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham.
“No charity wants to alienate their donors.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office carried out its probe after reports that charity supporters were being pressured into follow-up donations.
Last December, the British Heart Foundation and The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were fined for similar actions.
The full list of charities affected by the latest penalties is:
- The International Fund for Animal Welfare – £18,000
- Cancer Support UK – £16,000
- Cancer Research UK – £16,000
- The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association – £15,000
- Macmillan Cancer Support – £14,000
- The Royal British Legion – £12,000
- The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children – £12,000
- Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity – £11,000
- WWF-UK – £9,000
- Battersea Dogs’ and Cats’ Home – £9,000
- Oxfam – £6,000