The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has taken the unusual step of apologising for a backlog of unresolved complaints. In a statement, an ICO spokesperson said: "Anyone who has felt the need to make a complaint to us deserves a timely response. Our current response times are not where we want them to be, and we know how frustrating this is for people who are asking for our help."
The statement confirms that the ICO is working to reduce the backlog, which results from an increase in complaints received by the regulator and will return to responding to 80% of complaints within 90 days over the coming months. To support its claim, the ICO cites an increase of 724 complaints in the final quarter of 2024, up 8.6% compared to the 35,724 data protection complaints received throughout the 2023-24 period.
The ICO is recruiting 19 additional staff to respond to complaints and clear the backlog.
A related article by DecisionMarketing highlights consumer sentiment over the backlog and towards the regulator in general. The article points to the regulator's 1.3-star Trust Pilot rating and includes a number of dissatisfied consumer reviews.
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