The investigative element of the ICO’s wider inquiry into fundraising practices of charities has now concluded, the Information Commissioner’s Office has said.
The ICO spokeswoman confirmed that the investigative element of the inquiry – called 'Operation Cinnabar', by the data protection watchdog – was completed when it issued 11 charities with notices of intent to fine on Monday. She said however that “the decision-making process” of the operation has yet to conclude.
Each of the 11 charities issued with notices by the ICO now have 28 days in which to make written representations to the Commissioner’s office. According to the ICO’s Guidance on Monetary Penalties, once a notice has been received, the recipient’s representation may “comment on the fact and views set out” in the notice or “make general remarks on the case and enclose documents or other material such as details of their finances”.
The commissioner will then review the representations and “any other circumstances relevant to the particular case under consideration” before determining whether or not to impose a monetary penalty and, if so, determine “an appropriate and proportionate” amount.
The ICO’s guidance says the commissioner has to issue fines within six months of serving the notice of intent.
The spokeswoman couldn’t confirm whether the subsequent findings into the 11 charities would be released by the ICO at a later date in a single document, or in 11 separate reports.
Oxfam, NSPCC and Macmillan amongst suspected charities
A Civil Society News investigation in December highlighted as many as 15 national charities who had been investigated as part of Operation Cinnabar.
Of those 15, two charities – the British Red Cross and Age International – signed undertakings of best practice with the ICO in relation to fundraising and marketing calls respectively. Two other charities – the RSPCA and the BHF – were publicly fined by the ICO in December.
The remaining 11 charities were all bought into investigations after damaging media stories run between May and the late autumn of 2015 by the Daily Mail and Sun newspapers.
In October 2015, then Information Commissioner Christopher Graham appeared in front of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and criticised a number of large charities for believing they were “above the law” when it came to adhering to the TPS.
While he did not explicitly name charities in the session, his written evidence, subsequently published in January 2016, named seven charities alongside the BHF and British Red Cross, those being: Christian Aid, Macmillan Cancer Support, GOSH, NSPCC, Barnardo’s, Oxfam.
At points throughout 2015, the ICO - in conjunction with the FRSB - also confirmed investigations into PDSA, Diabetes Research, Welfare Foundation, Cancer Recovery and Breast Cancer Campaign.
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