Today marks the third annual international Data Privacy Day, an awareness raising initiative focused on data privacy and protection, yet new statistics from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) indicate that the rate of data security breaches shows no sign of abating.

The UK's privacy watchdog revealed in a statement that it has uncovered over 800 data security breaches since 2007, nearly 200 of which were the result of mistakes and 262 due to criminal theft.

The ICO, which has recently been awarded new powers to fine erring organisations up to £500,000, warned that it will use these tougher sanctions if companies fail to report security breaches which subsequently come to light.

"In just over two months a further 100 organisations have reported data security breaches to us," said deputy Information Commissioner David Smith.

"We are keen to work with organisations to prevent breaches occurring in the first place, and to help put things right when things do go wrong. Talking to us may, of course, result in regulatory action. However, organisations must act responsibly."

Coinciding with Data Privacy Day is the fourth annual European Data Protection Day, originally set up to mark the adoption of the Council of Europe's Convention on the Protection of Personal Data, the first legally binding international instrument in the field of data protection.

European data protection supervisor Peter Hustinx argued that, as individuals and organisations come to rely more heavily on information and communication technologies, this will necessitate the processing of increasingly large amounts of personal data.

"The growing use of personal data affects us all, and the privacy consequences of this development are now becoming more visible," he added.

"It is therefore essential that everyone's fundamental rights to privacy and data protection are effectively protected in practice."