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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| UK mobile phone data 'was sold' | UK mobile phone data 'was sold' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Staff at one of the UK's major mobile phone companies sold on millions of records from thousands of customers, the information watchdog says. | |
| Christopher Graham told the BBC that brokers had bought the private data "for substantial sums". | |
| The information was allegedly used by other firms to cold-call the customers as their contracts neared expiry. | |
| The suspected trade emerged after the firm alerted the watchdog. Mr Graham is planning to prosecute those involved. | |
| Mr Graham, the Information Commissioner appointed earlier this year, said the case he was now preparing illustrated why there needed to be a prison sentence to prevent people from selling private data to third parties. | Mr Graham, the Information Commissioner appointed earlier this year, said the case he was now preparing illustrated why there needed to be a prison sentence to prevent people from selling private data to third parties. |
| Search warrants | Search warrants |
| Mr Graham told the BBC that investigators had been working with the company after it reported suspicions of an unlawful trade in customers' data. | |
| The team from the Information Commissioner's Office obtained search warrants to enter premises and have also interviewed employees. | |
| Mr Graham has not named the firm or details of what was alleged to have happened in the interests of not prejudicing a future trial. | |
| Mr Graham said: "Many people will have wondered why and how they are being contacted by someone they do not know just before their existing phone contract is about to expire. | Mr Graham said: "Many people will have wondered why and how they are being contacted by someone they do not know just before their existing phone contract is about to expire. |
| "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 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. |
| "But, we will only be able to do this if blaggers and others who trade in personal data face the threat of a prison sentence. | "But, 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 finesÂ… 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." | "The existing paltry finesÂ… 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." |
| The Ministry of Justice has been consulting on tougher penalties for illegal trade in personal information. | |
| The Data Protection Act banned the selling on of data without prior permission from the customer - but Mr Graham said that the mobile phone case suggested that people were "driving a coach and horses" through the legislation. | |
| "More and more personal information is being collected and held by government, public authorities and businesses," said Mr Graham. | |
| "In the future, as new systems are developed and there is more and more interconnection of these systems, the risks of unlawful obtaining and disclosure become even greater. | |
| "If public trust and confidence in the proper handling of personal information, whether by government or by others, is to be maintained effective sanctions are essential." |