Warwick Ashford reports:
The UK should introduce prison sentences for using stolen personal data, says Information Commissioner Christopher Graham.
He is calling for an effective deterrent to the “routine trashing of individuals’ rights” under the Data Protection Act, according to according to Bloomberg.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) proposed a two-year prison term in 2006 after investigating the sale of stolen personal data to journalists.
The then chief of the ICO, Richard Thomas, said that low penalties devalue the offence in the public mind and mask the seriousness of the crime, but lawmakers failed to act in the face of press opposition.
Read more on ComputerWeekly.com.
In related news, Cameron Craig asks, “Data privacy: When will watchdog ICO get its teeth into private sector audits?“