Staff at one of the UK’s major mobile phone companies sold on millions of records from thousands of customers, the information watchdog says.
Christopher Graham told the BBC that brokers had bought the data and sold it on to other phone firms, who called the customers as contracts neared expiry.
The suspected trade emerged after the firm alerted the watchdog. Mr Graham is planning to prosecute those involved.
He said he had not named the company in order not to prejudice a future trial.
Read more on BBC.
UPDATE: The company has now been named. It is T-Mobile. See their statement here.
The Information Commissioner’s Office issued the following statement today:
The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, is highlighting new evidence which shows that a deterrent custodial sentence is required to stop the trade in unlawful personal information. Christopher Graham is responding to the government’s proposal to introduce a custodial sentence for breaches of Section 55 of the Data Protection Act from 1 April 2010.
Investigators at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have been working with a mobile telephone company after the firm suggested employees allegedly sold details relating to customers’ mobile phone contracts, including their contract expiry dates. It is alleged that the information was being sold on to the service provider’s competitors whose agents were using the material to cold call customers prior to contract expiry dates to offer them an alternative contract. The service provider has alleged that many thousands of customer account details have been unlawfully obtained.
The ICO has investigated and it appears that the information has been sold on to several brokers and that substantial amounts of money have changed hands. The ICO has obtained several search warrants and attended a number of premises, and is now preparing a prosecution file.
Christopher Graham said: “Many people will have wondered why and how they are being contacted by someone they do not know just before their existing phone contract is about to expire. We are considering the evidence with a view to prosecuting those responsible and I am keen to go much further and close down the entire unlawful industry in personal data. But, we will only be able to do this if blaggers and others who trade in personal data face the threat of a prison sentence.
The existing paltry fines for Section 55 offences are simply not enough to deter people from engaging in this lucrative criminal activity. The threat of jail, not fines, will prove a stronger deterrent.
Christopher Graham continued: “More and more personal information is being collected and held by government, public authorities and businesses. In the future, as new systems are developed and there is more and more interconnection of these systems, the risks of unlawful obtaining and disclosure become even greater. If public trust and confidence in the proper handling of personal information, whether by government or by others, is to be maintained effective sanctions are essential.
This will not only underline the serious nature of the offence but will ensure that those convicted carry a meaningful criminal record. A custodial sentence will also have the added benefit of making the section 55 offence a recordable one and open up the possibility of extradition in appropriate cases.”
In another case, blaggers used forged identity documents to gain unlawful access to 41 people’s credit files held by a credit reference agency. The ICO is continuing its investigation.
Under the law as it stands, there is a public interest defence for section 55 offences. The Information Commissioner notes that the defence available to journalists would be strengthened under the proposal for a custodial sentence.