ICO finally bares its teeth
At the start of March, the Information Commissioners Office made its first use of an Enforcement Notice to shut down a Droitwich firm which it said was running an illegal database of workers in the building trade.
The firm in question, The Consulting Association run by David Kerr, had operated this database for fifteen years and held details of over 3,000 building workers. Its customers, around 40 companies in the construction business, would send lists of names to the firm which would check them against the blacklist and advise on any unsuitable candidates. For this service, businesses were paying annual subscriptions of £3,000 and a fee of £2.20 for each name checked.
The database included information on workers' personal relationships, their union activities and previous employment. Some of the information was up to 30 years old. According to the ICO, not only was the information held without people's consent, but the existence of the database was repeatedly denied. The investigation began after an article about it was published in the Guardian in the summer of 2008.
Deputy Information Commissioner, David Smith, said "We will prosecute Mr Kerr and we are also considering what regulatory action to take against construction firms who have been using the system. I remind business leaders that they must take their obligations under the Data Protection Act seriously. Trading people's personal details in this way is unlawful and we are determined to stamp out this type of activity."
19th March 2009