The personal details of over 5000 broadband customers accused of illegally sharing adult films online were passed to ACS:Law which could now be fined up to £500,000 because the information ended up being leaked. The list was targeted by online pirates and posted on the internet.
Now BT has admitted that it sent the details of over 500 customers to the firm as an unsecured document. It means BT is now in breach of the Data Protection Act which demands that customers’ details are secure at all times.
A BT official said it wouldn’t happen again but admitted that unencrypted data had been sent to ACS:Law in late August.
BT said that it had contacted all of its affected customers and told BBC News that they were “working with them closely to protect them as much as possible from further exposure”. They added that they would be providing the customers with “an identity protection service including internet security software free of charge for the next 12 months”.
Speaking from the watchdog, Privacy International, Simon Davies said BT had not only broken Data Protection Laws but were in contempt of a high court order. This order was made in July in the High Court of Justice. The ruling ordered internet companies to hand over data to ACS:Law. However, it added that it should be in an “electronic text format by way of Microsoft Excel file saved in an encrypted form to a compact disk, or any other digital media”.
He said he would be pressing for the telecoms company to face legal action for contempt of court after the details were sent via an unencrypted email.
The law firm’s site was corrupted and as a result personal details were leaked onto the internet. The Information Commission is now investigating ACS:Law and a spokesman told the BBC that they would also be investigating the BT email.
If they are found guilty, companies who have breached the Data Protection Act, could be fined up to £500,000.
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Source: BBC News Online; The Daily Telegraph
