[Sylos]

I was not joking or sarcastic. They are a regulatory institution. They get paid to look after companies, so that those keep to the law.

Presumably, the workers at this institution do not get paid for how high the fines are that they can push through. Nor does their office get paved with gold floors. So, they have no incentive to swing the biggest stick they have. There's no concrete reason to distrust them here.

Really, part of their job description for which they do get paid, is probably that they should not fine companies inadequately. If companies leave the country or even just do less business there, that's probably more damaging to the country than recieving that one-time 4% of turnover.

[AndrewKemendo]

I think this ignores the reality of who populates these beuraucracies. I worked for the DoD alongside the FBI, NSA and others and the sheer delight that case agents and officers get for "hammering" people/entities under scrutiny cannot be overstated - it's part of the ethos.

It has little to do with how much they get paid. It has everything to do with wielding power backed by a state enforcement entity.

[rahoulb]

Yet when the Cookie Law came out the ICO basically said "we know it's complicated, it's an education job, not an enforcement one".