Four private detectives convicted under the Fraud Act of stealing confidential information for sale to clients have been sentenced to jail terms of between six and 12 months.
While the information commissioner welcomed the sentences, he renewed his call for custodial sentences to be put in place for offences under section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). At present, Section 55 offences—unlawfully obtaining personal data—are not punishable by imprisonment and, if this case had been pursued under the DPA, the individuals convicted would have faced only a small fine.
Describing this situation as "not good enough," the information commissioner expressed concern that “blagging” offences would continue unabated until the punishments available under the DPA “fit the crime.”
