[oblonsky]

I think the Information Comissioner pretty much has his hands tied now. Although I feel he should have taken action against the initial trials, since he hasn't, he has no power at the moment to proactively prevent practices being implemented which may lead to breaches. He has to wait for the roll-out before ruling again.

This I think was the subject of a review of his powers. I think there was some talk of bringing the ICO in line with the FSA, who have the power to fine financial institutions who simply put their customers data at risk. A bank was fined substantially after a laptop was stolen from an employees house. The bank can't be responsible for burlaries but they should have either encrypted the hard drive or prevented employees taking work home.

I'd say don't be too hard on Richard Thomas. Politics is a hard game and we need all the allies we can get.