Paul Kunert reports:
Two former workers at roadside assistance provider RAC were this week given suspended sentences after illegally copying and selling tens of thousands of lines of personal data on people involved in accidents.
Debbie Okparavero, 61, of Salford, and Maliha Islam, 51, of Manchester, had worked as customer services specialists at RAC’s call center in Stretford until their “unlawful conduct” was spotted by the company and subsequently reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
The RAC had installed unspecified security monitoring software, which showed Okparavero accessing and copying “personal information relating to people involved in road traffic accidents.” A search of Okparavero’s mobile phone revealed the data was then shared with Islam in a WhatsApp chat.
Read more at The Register.
This is the third case involving RAC employees accessing information without lawful purpose. And while people have been fined in each case, not one of them seems to have spent even one week in prison for these crimes. What kind of message does that send?