The number of complaints come amid an ever increasing number of data breaches, which has seen more and more customer data falling into the hands of criminals and hackers.
The new ICO figures were obtained by international law company Pinsent Masons using a freedom of information request. It found that complaints made to the ICO relating to the security of personal information jumped to 1,150 in 2014.
This makes it more than two complaints a day on average and is a 30% increase on the 886 complaints received in 2014. And complaints over a five year period have risen by a staggering 64%. The ICO has the power to hand out fines of up to GBP 500,000 if it deems that a company failed to take appropriate measures to protect customer information.
Scanlon pointed out that a UK Government commissioned survey in June revealed that around 90% of large organisations and 74% of small businesses experienced information security breaches in 2014-2015.
In the summer a report from Digital Catapult revealed the scale of distrust that now exists between consumers and big businesses about people’s personal data. It found that 60% of consumers admitted they were uncomfortable sharing personal data. Indeed, 14% of consumers now refuse to share any personal data at all.
Earlier this week a survey found that the vast majority of businesses are still not being proactive about their security, and fail even to conduct cyber security drills.
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