Tribunal grants delay in proceedings over £1.25m penalty for GDPR breaches (Ticketmaster UK v the Information Commissioner)

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of this decision?
• What was the background?
• What did the Tribunal decide?
• Case details

Article summary

Information Law analysis: On 13 November 2020, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a penalty notice for £1.25m against Ticketmaster UK for infringements of Articles 5(1)(f) and 32 of the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the GDPR). Ticketmaster brought an appeal against the notice to the First-Tier Tribunal General Regulatory Chamber (the Tribunal). In view of related High Court proceedings concerning the incidents that had given rise to the penalty notice, Ticketmaster subsequently applied for a stay of the appeal. The Tribunal has granted the stay, meaning that a listing date for the appeal before the Tribunal in relation to the penalty notice is now not expected until around late Summer/early Autumn of 2023—around three years after the lodging of the notice of appeal and over five years after the incident which led to the issuing of the penalty notice.