The Information Commissioner¹'s Office will be able to issue fines of up to £500,000 for serious data security breaches².

信息专员办公室将有权就重大数据安全漏洞签发高达50万英镑罚款。

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The new statute was laid before Parliament on 12 January.

The new rule is expected to come into force in the UK on 6 April 2010. It has been approved by Jack⁵ Straw MP, Secretary of State for Justice.

The size of the fine will be determined⁶ after an investigation⁷ to assess the gravity重力，严重性 of the breach缺口，违背.

Other factors will include the size and finances of the organisation⁸ at fault.

Individual cases will also be assessed on whether the breach³ was accidental or deliberate故意的，从容的, and how much distress⁹ the leak of information caused.

There have been several high profile data losses in recent years from large organisations including the Ministry¹⁰ of Defence and the DVLA汽车与车辆牌照局 (Driver and Vehicle Licensing¹¹ Agency).

In an official press statement, Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham said he hoped the penalty would encourage companies to comply more closely with the Data Protection Act.

"These penalties are designed to act as a deterrent遏制的，威慑的," he said in a press statement.

"I remain committed to working with voluntary, public and private bodies to help them stick to the rules and comply with the Act. But I will not hesitate to use these tough new sanctions for the most serious cases where organisations disregard忽视，漠视 the law."

The original Act came into force in 1984 but today enormous amounts of personal data are stored and processed online.

"When things go wrong, a security breach can cause real harm and great distress危难，不幸 to thousands of people," added Mr Graham.

Under the most recent Act of 1998, data can only be used for the purposes for which it is collected and cannot be given to others without the consent同意，赞成 of the individual.

Everybody has the right to see information that is held about them, with the exception of crime-related data.