ICO publishes 2025-26 annual report

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published its annual report and financial statements for the 2025-26 period. The report marks the final full year for the regulator in its current form as a corporation sole, before it becomes a statutory board. The new Information Commission (IC) will be led by a Chair, Chief Executive and non-executive directors. 

During the period, the ICO received 76,743 data protection complaints, representing an 81% increase over the 42,315 complaints received in the previous 12-month period. The number of personal data breach reports received over the period rose to 17,431, up 29% from 17,431 in the previous period. 

Other published stats include 276,401 telephone calls answered, down 12% from 309,417. The number of live chats fell by 16%, from 70,567 to 59,009, while answered advice emails rose by 11%, to 10,739.    

On Freedom of Information, the ICO received 10,713 complaints, up 31% from the 7,369 complaints received in the 2024-25.

In terms of its performance, the ICO noted that 27.4% of data protection complaints were responded to within 90 days, down from 30% the previous year and 84.8% in the 2023-24 period. The number of data protection complaints responded to within six months also fell from 98.4% to 69.5%, while the number of complaints over 12 months old rose from 0.1% to 0.2%. 

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