The United Kingdom's Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has decided not to uphold a closely-watched, crowd-funded complaint over data protection violations that a U.S.-born, UK-resident complainant alleges have resulted from the way HMRC has forwarded her personal information to the U.S., in compliance with that country’s FATCA legislation. 

Last Wednesday, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced that it expects imminently to issue its decision in a closely-watched challenge over data protection violations that a U.S.-born, UK-resident complainant alleges have resulted from the way HMRC has forwarded her personal information to the U.S., in compliance with that country’s FATCA legislation.

Correspondence and other documents having to do with the way the U.S. tax evasion-prevention law known as FATCA was agreed upon, and is now enforced by EU governments – along with similar materials having to do with the OECD’s more recent automatic exchange of information (AEOI) regime known as the Common Reporting Standard – have been published by a campaigning lawyer with London’s Mishcon de Reya law firm.

An American who came to the UK 19 years ago, and who was stunned to receive a letter from her bank in 2016 informing her of her U.S. tax obligations and that her account data would be shared with the Internal Revenue Service – as required by the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – has retained London's Mishcon de Reya law firm to legally challenge what she claims is the mis-use of her personal data and a violation of her privacy.