The Act Commentary on Sections Part 8 - Data Protection Act 1998 Monetary penalties: restriction on matters to be taken into account
779.Section 55A of the 1998 Act provides for the Information Commissioner to issue a monetary penalty for serious breaches of the data protection principles of a kind likely to cause substantial damage or distress that are carried out either deliberately or recklessly.
780.Under section 51(7) of the 1998 Act the Information Commissioner can, with the consent of the data controller, assess any processing of personal data for the following of good practice.
781.Paragraph 13 of Schedule 20 amends section 55A of the 1998 Act to prevent the imposition of a monetary penalty based on information that has been obtained from a good practice assessment (section 51 of the 1998 Act) or the use of an assessment notice under new section 41A of the 1998 Act as inserted by section 173.