It's unfortunately all very pointless. You'll notice that the press release doesn't mention whether the fines were paid or not. That's because the majority of these fines don't actually get paid. The people running these companies are clever, they've already made and extracted their money, by the time the ICO investigation is done there's nothing left but the company shell - with the people running it already having setup the next company. You'll further notice that the ICO linked one of the companies to one it had already fined, and that one appears to be about to be struck off by companies house, presumably without having paid the fine. The ICO needs to up their game and actually take criminal action against the directors involved to make them personally liable. The Companies Act already allows this to happen, the problem is the government don't actually take action. Companies House rarely prosecute any directors, and there's no joined up action between ICO and Companies House to pay special attention to firms that the ICO have already found acted in violation of the law.