Complaints soar but ICO insists 'we won't react to noise'

Information Commissioner John Edwards has defended the regulator’s enforcement record, while admitting that he expects total complaints to reach 75,000 by the end of the 2025/26 financial year — a nearly twofold increase from the 40,000 received in 2023/24.

In a wide-ranging keynote speech at IAPP UK Intensive 2026, Edwards insisted that the ICO must use its tools “carefully” and will not investigate every report to avoid “reacting to noise instead of making meaningful interventions”.

His assertions follow ongoing criticism of that regulator is not fit for purpose. Back in December, 70 civil liberty groups, academics and legal experts joined forces to demand MPs launch a major investigation into a “collapse in enforcement activity”, with committee chair Chi Onwurah, arguing that the ICO is plagued by deep “structural failures”.

Meanwhile, Cambridge Don, Professor David Erdos has called for both UK and European lawmakers to take a long hard look at the record of the ICO, following what he branded “a severe and serious weakening of information rights regulation” under the current regime, which is threatening its primary role to “robustly protect people’s personal data”.

In his speech, Edwards said: “Some think we should devote more resources to data protection complaints from the public. Our complaints volumes are rising. This is showing no signs of slowing down.

“Many complaints bodies and ombudsmen are reporting the same uptick. I do not believe it would be sustainable or responsible to increase our allocation of resources at the same rate at which those complaints numbers are growing.

“Others believe the ICO should investigate every breach report that comes in and pursue every organisation with the full suite of enforcement tools at our disposal.

“Others call for us to prioritise greater certainty for businesses – more guidance, more resources and more tools that support innovation and reduce friction. To spend more resources working ‘upstream’ to prevent poor practices putting people’s data at risk and creating more demand from enforcement and complaints resources.

“You may not agree with how we divvy up our resources, but we have increasingly made those choices transparent.”

Edwards then proceeded to big up the ICO’s success, including this week’s £14.47m fine for Reddit; the £7.5m penalty for Clearview and the £12m fine against TikTok in 2023, which are both under appeal.

He concluded: “My first act as Commissioner was a ‘listening tour.’ I felt it was important to hear directly from you about your concerns and what you needed from my office.

“This is still the case today. I’m still listening. If there’s a gap where you would value our steer or a change we haven’t anticipated, please do let us know. I’d encourage you to engage with our upcoming consultations and help us to shape where we go next.”