The personal data of thousands of mobile phone users has been
sold by staff at T-Mobile.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said investigators
have been working with the mobile phone company. It had suggested
to the ICO that employees allegedly sold details relating to
customers' mobile phone contracts, including when their contracts
expire. The ICO investigation revealed that the information has
been sold on to several brokers for large sums.
Information commissioner Christopher Graham said, "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.
"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."
Mark Tickle, EMEA managing director at security supplier
Webroot, said, "We support the information commissioner's decision
to take this offence seriously, as Webroot has seen many cases
where customers' data is being used illegally and organisations'
reputations are being damaged.
"Although it's still unclear how the data was distributed in
this case, recent analyst research has revealed that web e-mail or
web postings account for 37% of information leaks, and that more
than one in five outgoing e-mails has contained content that poses
a legal, financial or regulatory risk. Organisations should ensure
their incoming and outgoing emails are tracked properly to ensure
confidential information stays within the organisation."