Neil Hodge
Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal issues for a wide range of publications in the United Kingdom and United States.
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ArticleIAPP report: Privacy spend rising, with further growth expected
Corporate spending on managing privacy risks has risen significantly since last year, with 6 of 10 privacy professionals believing budgets will continue to increase over the coming year, according to the latest IAPP survey.
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Facebook fined $70M for compliance breaches in Giphy probe
Facebook was fined £50 million (U.S. $69 million) for allegedly breaking U.K. competition rules while the firm is under investigation over its acquisition of Giphy. A separate penalty of £500,000 (U.S. $690,000) was also assessed related to CCO appointments.
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Global Privacy Assembly takeaways: ‘Time to get real’ on cross-border cooperation
Privacy regulators believe there must be a push toward greater international cooperation and enforcement if failure to ensure data protection is to be taken as seriously as other corporate offenses.
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GDPR enforcement roundup: Austrian Post facing new record fine
The Austrian Post is once again appealing what would be a record GDPR fine in the country after successfully defending itself in the first instance. Other recent decisions under the law provide further enforcement trends.
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‘Soft-hearted’ Irish DPC proposes $42M GDPR fine against Facebook
The Irish Data Protection Commission has set out plans to fine Facebook between €28 million and €36 million (U.S. $32 million and $42 million) for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation.
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Late surge expected to comply with EU Whistleblowing Directive
European companies are expected to rush to comply with new whistleblower protection rules only when they take effect in December, meaning workers are not adequately protected for any disclosures they make in the meantime.
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Petrofac fine fallout: Penalty too light for SFO to claim success?
Petrofac’s relatively low penalty for multiple bribery offenses might encourage companies to take their chances when faced with the choice of a possible criminal conviction or cutting a deal with the Serious Fraud Office, legal experts warn.
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Grant Thornton UK fined $3.2M for Patisserie Valerie audit lapses
Grant Thornton UK has been fined £2.34 million (U.S. $3.2 million) by the Financial Reporting Council for failures in its audits of collapsed café chain Patisserie Valerie between 2015 and 2017.
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CMA’s Green Claims Code latest effort in greenwashing crackdown
Companies have until the end of the year to stop making misleading claims about the green credentials of their products and services or face regulatory action, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has warned.
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Big Four mishaps in U.K. underscore need to challenge auditors
Companies should question their auditors throughout the audit process, particularly in the wake of a spate of recent enforcement actions in the United Kingdom targeting the Big Four and other large firms for audit deficiencies.
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WhatsApp GDPR fine fallout: EDPB actions shift enforcement landscape
Experts weigh in on the Irish Data Protection Commission’s €225 million (U.S. $267 million) GDPR fine against WhatsApp, which saw the European Data Protection Board rule to increase the fine total and compliance obligations.
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German AML deficiencies in spotlight ahead of election
A recent raid by German prosecutors of the country’s finance and justice ministries has once again put a spotlight on Germany’s apparent failings in tackling financial crime.
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U.K. signals divergence from GDPR with new data transfer approach
The United Kingdom announced plans to strike independent data adequacy decisions with key countries—including the United States—as part of its post-Brexit economic strategy.
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U.K. audit breakup plan hits snag without Big Four support
The Big Four audit firms have refused to back a U.K. government plan to break their dominance of the market by forcing them to share work with smaller competitors to give them a foothold.
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Weathering the storm: Why FinTech compliance failures persist
Experts weigh in with their thoughts on why FinTechs and cryptocurrency firms continue to have a bad reputation in terms of compliance.
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ICO’s first GDPR fine reduced on appeal
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office’s fine against pharmacy Doorstep Dispensaree for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation has been slashed approximately two-thirds on appeal to £92,000 (U.S. $126,000).
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BSI guidance offers whistleblower management best practices
The British Standards Institution has created international guidance to help companies set up an effective whistleblowing management system.
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Hamburg DPA warns Zoom incompatible with GDPR
The Hamburg data protection authority has warned local government departments to stop using Zoom because it believes the videoconferencing app is not compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation.
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GDPR fines worth appealing? Factors to consider
Experts weigh in on the results of a report from the European Data Protection Board showing which countries have seen the most GDPR fines annulled or modified following court appeal.
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Resource demand to enforce GDPR weighing heavy on EU authorities
A new report from the European Data Protection Board has found an overwhelming majority of data protection authorities believe they are under-resourced to deal with the demands of the General Data Protection Regulation.
