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Private dicks fined for data 'blagging' from DWP
Breaching the DPA to find debtors

By Jo Best

Published: Tuesday 24 April 2007

A firm of private investigators has found itself on the wrong side of the law after pleading guilty to unlawfully obtaining data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The company, Infofind, "blagged" information on 250 individuals from the government unit in an attempt to trace debtors, in order to sell the details on to a finance business, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

The ICO said Infofind had signed an agreement with its finance client to work within the confines of the Data Protection Act (DPA) but breached it repeatedly by blagging information on individuals protected under the DPA.

The private investigation firm and its MD were convicted of 44 counts of unlawfully obtaining and selling personal information at Kingston Magistrates' Court and fined as well as having to pay £5,000 towards costs.

The firm was fined £100 for each of four offences, and the MD £700 for each of four offences.