T-Mobile Confirms Violation of Data Protection Laws
Data protection laws are in place to ensure that the data submitted to and maintained by the phone companies is safe. However, recently it has been reported that some staff members of T-Mobile have been selling confidential information of the company’s customers to third parties in gross violation of the law.
This stolen information was sold to the competitors so that they can contact T-Mobile’s customers in order to divert them from the company. It is supposed to be one of the biggest breaches of data protection laws in history.
In the beginning, the news merely stated that data from a particular service provider had been sold off. However, T-Mobile accepted that it was the company involved in the matter, after all of its competitors denied any involvement.
The rumours were heard first when T-Mobile itself reported the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the authority that controls the use of personal and confidential data. Following T-Mobile’s confession of involvement, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham has also confirmed the fact that the staff members of T-Mobile have sold the confidential data to third party brokers.
This incident has proved the fact that the existing laws for data theft are not enough to protect personal information of customers that are kept with mobile companies. According to Mr Graham, there is a need to change the laws. The Commissioner’s Office intends to launch a criminal prosecution and demand strict punishment for the offenders, including incarceration. Currently the punishment for illegal trading in personal information is £5,000.
T-Mobile has stated that the crime was committed without the knowledge of the management.
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