In a blog post dated 21 December 2022 the Information Commissioner, John Edwards, responded to the letter from three newspaper editors to the Government in relation to the ICO’s Journalism Code of Practice (see item above), saying that the Code will not in some way “shackle” the media, as the editors suggest.

In the blog post, Mr Edwards says that as a society, we understand that a free press is “an essential function of our democracy”. However, he says, “we understand too that there must be checks and balances” and that “Journalists are not above the law”. Therefore, where it appears that the law may have been broken, e.g. when newspapers involve themselves in phone hacking or paying public officials for stories, then “society responds to ensure a sensible balance is found”.

Mr Edwards says that data protection is part of that balance. “The law supports journalists to be able to inform the public and hold the powerful to account, including a clear exemption in certain circumstances from many requirements of the law. But it also gives broader protections to people’s privacy. As we saw at the Leveson Inquiry, there are occasions when journalists’ desire for stories overstep the mark”.

Mr Edwards also reminds people that it was as a result of the Leveson Inquiry and public concern about journalists acting beyond the law that Parliament decided expressly to include journalists and the press as subject to data protection law and tasked the ICO with creating a Journalism Code of Practice to assist the media in understanding and meeting their statutory obligations. Mr Edwards says that the Code, which is still being developed with input from media, will give “clear and practical guidance about how to comply with data protection law while still enabling journalists to do their important and valued job”.

As for “shackling” the media, Mr Edwards says that the ICO’s Codes do not create new law but explain what is required under the existing law and that there is nothing in the Code that constitutes a limit on the freedom of the press.

In Mr Edwards’ view, it is “misdirected and disingenuous to criticise a draft code that is still under review, as part of our detailed and thorough consultation process”. He stresses that the ICO has been speaking with journalists and those in the media throughout to understand how data is used, and how the law might apply to them. “The latest draft of the code reflects a great deal of what we’ve heard from the media across our consultation”, Mr Edwards says.

Finally, Mr Edwards says that the ICO will continue to work with the media to ensure the Code is clear and practical. He concludes that where the media want to be exempted from the law entirely, “they must take their case to the government. Until that point, he says, “it will remain that a free press is an essential function of our democracy, but so is the ability for a regulator to carry out the will of Parliament”. To read Mr Edwards’ blog post in full, click here.