The ICO is as toothless as our nation.

They had initially announced a fine against British Airways of 183M, and reduced it to about 20M.

Marriot's original was 99M, now reduced to 18.4M.

Cathay Pacific was fined... 500K.

In most cases, each fine has been announced as a large amount (presumably for publicity) after which it goes through appeals, tribunals, some private meetings and a substantially reduced fine.

I can only imagine why it keeps ending up this way - is money changing hands during these negotiations? Are the fines kept "low" in order to not scare businesses away from continued laxity?