Record level of data complaints lodged

The data commissioner has said his office needs more resources as staff are “stretched beyond the limit”, with 1,161 complaints opened for investigation last year alone.

The record number of complaints is matched by the growing scope of the investigations carried out by the Office of the Data Commissioner involving global companies such as Google and Facebook.

There was also a record number of data breach notifications — 1,167 last year, a rise of about 300% on 2010.