Surely the UKIC should take notice of this? This is a flagrant and public
breach of the SAR process by a major corporate figure.
No, wait..... The UKIC only handles complaints when the individuals
affected complain!
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tim Trent
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 1:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] FW: Friday SAR story
I managed to get in. The Daily Telegraph retains the copyright, naturally
BEGINS:
Green sends tart response to data letter
(Filed: 02/07/04)
Kate Rankine reports how the feud over M&S has descended into farce
In pictures: the M&S affair
The £8.4 billion battle for control of Marks & Spencer descended into farce
yesterday when Philip Green replied to notices sent out by chief executive
Stuart Rose under the Data Protection Act.
Mr Rose's notices force the recipients to disclose information that they are
holding on him. They also included a £10 note to cover the cost of sending
back the information.
When Mr Green received his notice yesterday morning, he sent his bodyguard,
Sean, to a nearby telephone box on Marylebone Road and asked him to return
with two prostitutes' calling cards.
He then wrote a letter to Mr Rose. "Dear Stuart," it began. "Please find
enclosed the information that I have on you. Here's a picture of the two
girls that had dinner with you at Harry's Bar a few weeks ago. I enclose the
£10 which they told me to return to you. Philip."
Yesterday afternoon, Mr Green sent his driver, Kevin, to deliver the letter,
which included the prostitutes' cards, to Mr Rose at M&S's head office in
nearby Baker Street. Those close to Mr Rose said that he found Mr Green's
letter "hilarious", although an M&S spokesman said: "How very droll."
The two men were friends before a fiery altercation on the pavement outside
M&S last month, where Mr Green accused Mr Rose of behaving very poorly when
he took the chief executive's job. Mr Green was also angry at M&S's swift
dismissal of his first £7.5billion takeover proposal for the company.
It is understood that Mr Rose has received other humorous replies to his
notices. One said: "Here's the £10 back. Why don't you buy three M&S shares
with it?" Another said: "Here's the £10. This might help towards your FSA
fine." They refer to the Financial Services Authority's investigation into
dealings in M&S shares in the run-up to Mr Green disclosing his plans to buy
the company on May 27.
Mr Rose bought 100,000 M&S shares on May 7, an hour or so after Mr Green
invited him to a meeting on May 12. At the meeting, Mr Green asked him to
sign a confidentiality agreement, and having done so, the BHS and Arcadia
owner told him that he planned to buy M&S and invited Mr Rose to join him.
Mr Rose gave no commitment.
On Tuesday, Mr Rose and Mr Green were separately grilled by the FSA as part
of its investigation into alleged insider dealing.
When Mr Green heard that Mr Rose was sending out notices under the Data
Protection Act on Wednesday evening, he said: "I'm assuming that this is a
joke. He [Mr Rose] can't be serious."
However, Mr Rose's intentions in sending out the notices were serious. They
are believed to have also gone to Mr Green's investment banks Goldman Sachs
and Merrill Lynch.
The move followed the revelation that an unauthorised person has accessed Mr
Rose's mobile telephone records without his knowledge.
His mobile operator, MmO2 , is investigating how this happened and what
information had been obtained. M&S interim chairman Paul Myners is a
non-executive director of MmO2 .
Mr Green has denied appointing private investigators, Kroll or Control
Risks. Both firms have told M&S that they cannot work for the retailing
group because they have a conflict of interest.
Mr Green said: "We have not engaged any private investigators. We know where
George and Harry's Bar are without Kroll."
Mr Rose is a frequent visitor to the two private dining clubs in Mayfair.
ENDS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
