News Article Published:
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Category:
Financial Services
If the Conservatives were to come into power in the next election, the party is likely to give Information Commissioner Richard Thomas more power to tackle lapses in data protection.
After the publication of the Information Commissioner's Office's (ICO) annual report, which tells of a "horrifying" number of data protection breaches in the past year by many key brands, the Conservatives have vowed to tackle the problem.
According to the report, 24,000 complaints were made about data protection issues in the past year, with direct marketing accounting for 2,500 of grievances.
While the internet was responsible for the most complaints, constituting 13 per cent of all enquiries, financial services companies were found to be the second most complained about sector, with 12 per cent of all complaints.
A particular worry for banks' PR people this year was when HBOS, Alliance & Leicester, Co-operative Bank and Nationwide Building Society had to be given a warning when customer data was discovered in rubbish bags outside their premises.
While banks do well to market themselves as trustworthy, such breaches directly contradict this image.
Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said: "The adequacy of penalties for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act and unlawful use of personal information should now be reviewed."
As consumers are increasingly aware of data protection issues, perhaps the only way for banks to promote a more trustworthy image after such breaches is to agree to more regulations and penalties.
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