T-Mobile staff sold personal data

T-Mobile staff sold personal data

news.bbc.co.uk

Staff at mobile phone company T-Mobile passed on millions of records from thousands of customers, a spokesman for the firm has confirmed.

The suspected illegal trade emerged after the firm alerted Christopher Graham, of the information watchdog.

Information Commissioner Mr Graham, 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.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Prison sentences are needed for those who decide to sell any private, personal data that was demanded for services provided.

The threat of prison should be extended also to the National Identity card scheme. The data held on record for these cards may very well be sold off to comapnies by the Government itself.

We are asked to provide personal data to have a specific service supplied, yet it is these same companies and organisations that allow all our data to become corrupted, lost, stolen, sold or otherwise made public knowledge.

Not only should prison sentences be dished out but the companies should be shut down for bad practice. Especially if it is a corporation as a corporation is seen as an individual and should be accountable as such.

Fines do not cut it anymore.

"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.

"The existing paltry fines… 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."

"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."

Do we really need more losses such as this to know that our data is not safe in their hands.. Our privacy is not guaranteed with a national ID card.. We are far safer from terrorism than we are from our own government and these companies/corporations who have designs to rule over us and make demands of us.

Our peace, privacy and right to protect ourselves is being eroded every day by the very people who claim to have our interests at heart.

It is these people who are the cause of all our problems. be it terrorism, war, famine, swine flu or even the plague currently active in Ukraine...

When is enough enough?

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

T-mobile was involved in something very similar here in Czech republic. T-mobile sold database of clients to bank "Komercni banka". Because top management was involved everything felt under rug. It was May 2008.
I'm tired now so only hint/link is in Czech language. I'll try to find something more tomorrow.

lupa.cz

The news report has just been updated....

Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the "shameful incident" proved that stiffer penalties "cannot be introduced soon enough".

He added: "This sorry episode questions the government's wisdom in getting communications providers to hoard increasing amounts of information about us."

And I have to agree.

We can all find many reports of lost, stolen, sold or otherwise 'misslaid' data here on ATS..