The UK Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has called for prison sentences of up to two years for the illegal buying and selling of personal information.
He is using special powers under the Data Protection Act to present a report to Parliament exposing the nature of this unlawful trade. The report reflects his deep concern that confidential information can be too easily obtained improperly from public and private organizations, causing significant harm and distress to individuals.
In the report, he states: "Individuals are not the only ones who suffer when third parties gain unlawful access to their personal details. Companies risk losing the trust of their customers and confidence in the public sector is shaken. We cannot sensibly build an information society unless its foundations and its systems are secure. Plugging the gaps becomes ever more urgent as the government rolls out its program of joined-up public services and joined-up computer systems under the banner of transformational government. However laudable the aim, we need to make sure that increasing access to government-held information for those with a legitimate need to know does not also open the door to those who seek to buy, beguile or barter their way to information that is rightly denied to them in law."
Download the 'What Privacy?' report here
