Have you notified the Information Commissioner that your business holds personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998? Companies breaching data protection laws have been fined.

The Information Commissioner fines companies for flouting data protection law. In the latest cases two companies had not notified the Information Commissioner’s Office under the Data Protection Act 1998. In both cases they were given the maximum possible fine of £5000, and ordered to pay £300 towards prosecution costs, by Manchester City magistrates. Corporate & Trade Limited and General & Commercial Guarantee Limited failed to notify with the Information Commissioner’s Office that they processed personal data. The companies are debt collection agencies. Corporate & Trade Limited were written to on five occasions and General & Commercial Limited on three; both companies failed to notify as a result of these letters. Under the Act organisations that process personal information may be required to notify with the Information Commissioner at a nominal cost of £35 per year.

At the same time a private detective has been convicted for data protection offences, and fined a total of £6,250 and ordered to pay a further £600 costs. Pearmac Ltd was prosecuted by the ICO for four offences under Section 55 of the Data Protection Act together with three further charges of attempting to obtain information unlawfully. Pearmac was charged with unlawfully obtaining, and attempting to obtain, information relating to vulnerable women from two medical centres. A Director also persuaded an employee from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (‘HMRC’) to hand over his Employee Identity Number, and then misrepresented himself in order to find out about a customer of HMRC. On another occasion, the same Director pretended to be an employee of the Coventry Building Society to obtain information on an individual.

Finally if you process data relating to your employees you need to look at or take advice on the new consolidated code of practice issued by the Information Commissioner in this field. We can advise you on all aspects of data protection law.