A man has pleaded guilty to running a covert database
containing personal information used to blacklist more than 3,000
construction workers.
Magistrates in Macclesfield sent Ian Kerr for sentencing at
crown court because they believe the maximum £5,000 fine they could
impose was not sufficient. The crown court can impose an unlimited
fine.
They also ordered full details on Kerr's firm, The Consulting
Association, be disclosed so the court could properly sentence
him.
Kerr's offices were raided by officials from the Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO) in February following a nine-month
investigation.
The Consulting Association, based in Droitwich, was found to
hold files on 3,213 individuals with data going back 30 years. The
files included information on trade union activity, employment
history, conduct and personal relationships. There were clippings
from newspapers and notes from union meetings.
The ICO also found invoices showing that more than 40 of Britain
biggest construction firms, had subscribed to Kerr's services. They
paid a £3,000 annual fee and extra for each individual search and
updating of information.
Kerr was charged with offences under the Data Protection Act of
not registering as a data user and not handling data correctly.
Kerr's solicitor, James Strong, told the magistrate that Kerr was
only an employee of The Consulting Association, drawing a £47,000
annual salary, but he was unable to give any further information
about the group.
Mick Gorrill, assistant information commissioner, said that
Kerr's offences "went to the heart" of the Data Protection Act
because people were unaware of the information held on them and
could not check it.
The information commissioner is now looking at issuing
enforcement notices against some of the construction firms which
subscribed to Kerr's services.
A dozen construction workers who had been blacklisted were at
the court to hear the verdict.
Steve Acheson, a Manchester electrician, said: "People have got
a right to be a trade union member and it is not right you should
be blacklisted just for that. I am pleased at what has happened
today."