Santander man fined for snooping

A man who worked in Santander’s fraud department has ended up in court after he used his special access privileges to snoop on his colleagues’ bank accounts to see how much they got paid.
Dalvinder Singh, from Yardley, Birmingham, worked in Santander UK’s suspicious activity reporting unit at its Leicester office, where he investigated allegations of money laundering.
But Birmingham Magistrates Court heard how Singh “let curiosity get the better of him” and used his access powers to look at eleven colleagues’ accounts, to learn how much their salaries and bonuses were. Singh was fined £880, plus £440 costs and an £88 victim surcharge.
ICO criminal investigation manager Damian Moran said: “This is a man who claimed his curiosity got the best of him. But when that curiosity led to him breaking the law, it cost him his job, and has now earned him a criminal conviction.
“Singh had been given clear training by Santander UK around the Data Protection Act, but chose to ignore that training. By accessing personal information he broke the law, and that is why he has been fined today.”
Unlawfully obtaining or accessing personal data is a criminal offence under section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998. The offence is punishable by way of ‘fine only’ – up to £5,000 in a Magistrates Court or an unlimited fine in a Crown Court.

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