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Professionals who work with personal information are among the individuals who can respond to the state’s plan to jail those who unlawfully obtain, disclose or sell it. First floated in 2007, the proposal will see the offences under section 55 of the Data Protection Act come with jail terms of up to two years in the most serious cases. Due to be law by next April, the proposal has the backing of the Information Commissioner, Sir Richard Thomas, who believes penalties are no longer a sufficient deterrent. Speaking last month after the media phone-tapping scandal, the ICO said the government should introduce custodial sentences as a matter of urgency. In response, the state has begun the consultation to frame his intention that reckless misuse of personal data without its owner’s consent should be deterred by custodial sentences. Without jail time, the belief is that unlawful personal data traders will continue to take little notice of penalties of up to £5,000, given that their enterprises can make up to £120,000 a month. However, the government said that only a “small minority” of the data offences would be serious enough to warrant custodial sentences, suspended sentences or community orders. It added: “Those responsible for large scale abuse of personal data, or repeat offenders, would be more likely to receive a custodial or a community sentence than those engaged at a lower level where a fine may be a more appropriate punishment.” Officials hope that as well as providing an adequate deterrent, the proposal will provide the public with reassurance that the state is prepared to jail those who misuse their data. In addition, introducing the rule should “achieve parity of approach across a number of disparate pieces of legislation which deal with similar types of offences,” the consultation says. Respondents to the paper can also give their view on a proposal to offer artists and journalists an exemption from the sentencing provision if their actions with data were in the public interest. Oct 22, 2009 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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