Sony could face a large penalty fine if it’s discovered that any of the compromised PlayStation Network data was held in the U.K, says the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Following the hacking of the PSN last week, data from over 70 million accounts was leaked and the company issued warnings via email to all PS3 owners to be vigilant of identity theft.
The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has now told Edge that the U.K’s Data Protection act which states “any individual or company which handles personal information (including names, email addresses and payment details) is required to keep that information secure,” would overrule any of Sony’s terms. Basically, that means that if that data was being held in the U.K, Sony could be liable for prosecution.
“For serious breaches of the act, we can issue a monetary penalty up to £500,000,” reads the statement.
There are other ways to solve the situation, however. “If we found a breach, one of the actions we could take would be to issue an undertaking, which is an agreement between the ICO and the company that if they are handling personal information they have to bring about set improvements in order for them to be compliant with the act,” explains the ICO representative.
The Information Commissioner’s Office is currently investigating Sony’s data breach. Stay tuned for more information.