The privacy watchdoghas shut down a
West Midlands consultancy forselling personal information on prospective
workersto the construction
industry.
The
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) seized a database in a
raid at the Consulting Association in Droitwich.
The secret database contained sensitive
personal information such as the
employment
history and
trade union activity of construction workers.
Consulting Association owner Ian Kerr appears to have run the
database over 15 years and charged construction firms a £3,000
annual subscription fee, the ICO said.
Ian Kerr was allegedly charged for personal details held about
individuals on lists of potential employees submitted by
subscribers.
Prominent construction firms Balfour Beatty, Sir Robert
McAlpine, Taylor Woodrow and Laing O'Rourke are listed among Kerr's
past and present subscribers.
David Smith, deputy information commissioner, said the database
represents a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.
"Not only was personal information held on individuals without
their knowledge or consent, but the existence of the database was
repeatedly denied," he said.
The ICO has served an
enforcement notice on Kerr, who now faces prosecution for
breaching the Data Protection Act (DPA).
The DPA requires UK organisations to be open about how they
process personal information and register with the ICO, which Kerr
failed to do.
Smith said the ICO is also considering taking regulatory action
against the construction firms that have been using the illegal
database to vet workers.