The Government has proposed a two-year maximum prison sentence for
committing the criminal offence in section 55 of the Data Protection Act
1998. There is a public consultation on this issue, which runs until October
this year. In the consultation paper, the government states that, "there is
a need "to provide an appropriate and effective level of deterrent to those
who seek to profit from the illegal trade in personal information, and to
those who otherwise wilfully or recklessly give out personal data to those
who have no right to see it."
The offence will not apply to front line public sector staff who make errors
of judgment (for example the sharing of data to protect a child), but rather
is intended to catch individuals who abuse the trust placed in them by their
employers or others who deliberately set out to acquire personal data
without a valid legal reason.
An extended news item on this story appears at
http://privacydataprotection.co.uk/news/ You can download a copy of the
consultation paper at that address.
Best wishes.
Lisa Souza
Privacy & Data Protection
Tel: +44 (0) 845 226 5723 Fax: +44 (0) 870 137 7871
www.privacydataprotection.co.uk <http://www.privacydataprotection.co.uk/>
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