Banks need to give customers better data access, says ICO

Following High Court ruling on payment protection insurance, ICO hopes not to be swamped with customer complaints

The deputy commissioner at the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), David Smith, has said that banks must do more to fulfil legal obligations to their customers.

Speaking at the British Banker's Association conference today, Smith explained that that the financial sector is a priority area for the ICO and said it is referred to in its draft Information Rights Strategy.

Banks are under scrutiny after a recent High Court ruling which backed the FSA's regulations around the mis-selling of the payment protection insurance. This has increased the onus on banks to make data relating to insurance readily available to customers.

"The ruling will create a lot of work for the banks with many customers exercising their legal right to access the information held about them. I want to remind banks of the need to take this obligation seriously. They must provide full responses in a timely manner," said Smith

"We cannot have a repeat of the situation we were in two years ago when the ruling on unfair bank charges took place. Our case workers were swamped with complaints from customers who hadn't received a satisfactory response from the banks."

Smith also claimed that banks must do more than simply keep data secure if they are to comply with data protection law, highlighting the fact that the law also gives individuals the right to remain in control of their information.

"We want to make sure financial services providers are doing all they can to comply with data protection law. While the number of upheld complaints is small compared with the millions of bank accounts in the UK, mishandling of financial information can have a serious effect on individuals' lives," he concluded.