Call for jail option for data privacy breaches

Custodial sentences need to be available to the courts to stop the unlawful use of personal information, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham has argued in an appearance before the Justice Select Committee this week.

The call for action comes as a bank cashier this week pleaded guilty to using her position to access illegally the personal details of a sex attack victim. The cashier’s husband had been convicted of carrying out the attack and was serving time in jail.

Sarah Langridge, a former employee of Barclays Bank, claimed she accessed the victim’s accounts and banking records to try to build a picture of the woman who had accused her husband. Mrs Langridge was fined £800, made to pay £400 costs and a £15 victims’ surcharge in a hearing at Brighton Magistrates Court.

Mrs Langridge’s offences were uncovered following a court hearing concerning her husband’s sentence for committing a serious sexual offence. His victim recognised Mrs Langridge in court as working at the local bank branch she used. Concerned that her account had been unlawfully accessed, the victim contacted Barclays bank and the police. The bank’s enquiries found that Mrs Langridge had regularly accessed the victim’s records on eight separate dates over a period of eight months – the period during which her husband’s court case was ongoing.

Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, said:“It beggars belief that – in an age where our personal information is being stored and accessed by more organisations than ever – the penalties for seriously abusing the system still do not include the possibility of a prison sentence, even in the most serious cases.

"Access to online records is now part and parcel of almost every transaction the citizen makes – with government agencies, local government, the NHS, DVLA, high street banks, insurers, social networks. This only makes the risks to privacy greater and the need for security greater still.

“The details of this case are truly shocking. The victim had a harrowing enough experience at the hands of her attacker; the revelation that her attacker’s wife was then rooting through all her personal details, for whatever purpose, would have caused even further distress.

“I note the outcome of this latest case, and I remain concerned that the courts are not able to impose the punishment to fit the crime in all cases, because the current penalty for this all too common offence is limited to a fine rather than the full range of possible sentences, including prison for the most serious cases.”

Christopher Graham used his appearance before the Justice Committee to call for custodial sentences to be made available to the courts as a more effective deterrent to the unlawful trade in, and access to, personal information.