ICO (Information Commissioner's Office)
UK Information Commissioner's Office — regulator for the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and PECR cookie/marketing rules.
What ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) means
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the UK's independent regulator for information rights, supervising the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), and the Freedom of Information Act. The ICO enforces consent and lawful-basis requirements for advertising-related processing, supervises cookie consent under PECR Regulation 6, and regulates electronic direct marketing (email, SMS, push). The ICO has issued monetary penalties against platforms and adtech intermediaries for cookie consent failures, real-time bidding (RTB) practices, and unsolicited marketing communications. ICO can issue enforcement notices requiring changes to processing, monetary penalty notices up to £17.5 million or 4% of worldwide turnover, and reprimands. The ICO publishes enforcement decisions, codes of practice (including the Age Appropriate Design Code), and Commissioner's opinions. AuditSocials monitors ICO enforcement notices, monetary penalties, and code-of-practice updates affecting social platforms.