$660,000 data privacy fine highlights dangers for businesses dabbling in politics

A year into an investigation into the use of data analytics in political campaigns, the U.K.’s privacy watchdog is hitting companies that shared data with political parties with sanctions including a criminal prosecution and a £500,000 (US$660,000) fine.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also plans to audit the activities of 11 political parties and of the main credit reference companies operating in the U.K., amid concerns that data brokers were allowing the personal data of U.K. and other European Union citizens to be processed for political purposes.