UK privacy regulator defends resource allocation after Afghan breach criticism
By Wooyoung Lee, Patricia Figueiredo and Frank Hersey ( September 16, 2025, 11:21 GMT | Insight) -- The UK privacy chief said his office will continue to focus resources on cases with the “greatest impact,” despite criticism over its decision not to investigate the Ministry of Defence’s Afghan data breach. Speaking in Seoul on Tuesday, John Edwards said not every complaint can be probed in depth due to decisions on resources. His office said Monday that it does not calculate resources for determining whether to investigate. Edwards said in Seoul he has been assured by the UK government that it is taking data breach risks more seriously.The UK privacy regulator has insisted it will allocate resources to investigate data protection issues with the “greatest impact,” even as it faces criticism for not detailing how it decided against enforcement over a recent Ministry of Defence breach exposing details of nearly 19,000 Afghan citizens. The previous day his office told MLex in response to a records request that it does not conduct resource allocation calculations....
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