Top firms face data theft charges

top firms face data theft chargesEleven of the UK’s top companies – including many household names – face being dragged through the courts for hiring rogue private detectives to steal personal data, following an Information Commissioner’s Office probe.
Commissioner Christopher Graham has revealed to MPs that investigators have unearthed “evidence of a criminal breach and a civil breach of the Data Protection Act” by the British firms.
Those involved in the so-called “blue-chip” hacking scandal could face unlimited fines, although insiders have said that a final decision on whether to prosecute has yet to be taken.
Potential criminal evidence has been found against a further eight foreign firms which are outside the jurisdiction of the ICO. A further 42 clients of rogue private detectives could be prosecuted for a civil breach of the law, which carries a maximum fine of £500,000.
The revelation comes in a letter to the Commons home affairs committee in which Graham, who will update the committee next week, said he was focusing on the 11 most serious cases.
He added: “The documentary evidence we hold in relation to these clients is considered significant and this gives us the best opportunity of instigating criminal proceedings.”
Graham said the ICO investigators were now seeking further evidence from the firms involved and preparing to conduct “forensic examination of computers” and analysis of huge files of data.
The 19 organisations being investigated for criminal breaches of the law comprise five major retailers, four legal firms, three insurers, two financial organisations and one construction firm. Despite high-profile leaks, which named X-Factor creator Simon Cowell, banking giant Credit Suisse, accountancy firm Deloitte and insurance company Allianz the ICO has resisted all calls to name and shame those under investigation.
The files were only transferred to the ICO late last year, despite the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) starting its investigation in 2008.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, has welcomed the move. He said: “The Information Commissioner’s findings clearly reveal significant evidence of criminal wrongdoing by clients in data which was held by Soca for so many years.
‘The Commissioner has been refreshingly proactive in his approach to this investigation, in direct contrast to what went before. It is important that this approach continues and those who have broken the law are brought to justice.”

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  1. Eleven of the UK’s top firms face data theft charges http://t.co/CfbbAEkvwa

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