The two-year jail sentence for people who steal or sell personal
information was in the draft of the Criminal Justice and
Immigration Bill until just days ago, when two House of Lords
amendments were tabled by a Government minister.
The change to the proposed law would stop the prison sentence
threat coming into force but retain it as an inactive part of the
law. The amended law would allow the Justice Secretary to ask
Parliament to activate that clause in the future.
The Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has argued for the
past two years that a prison sentence must be created for people
who steal and trade in personal information.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) produced a report in
2006 called What Price Privacy Now?, which revealed that most major
newspapers had engaged in the buying of information from just one
raided investigations agency. The ICO published the names of the
newspapers involved, and the list included broadsheet titles such
as The Observer and The Sunday Times as well as red top
tabloids.
Thomas called for jail terms for data thieves and traders and
the Government backed that call until last week.
Junior justice minister Lord Hunt of Kings Heath had two
amendments to the Bill accepted in the House of Lords making the
changes.
The ICO said that it was at least happy that the clause
containing the jail threat – clause 76 – was not abandoned
altogether.
"Although of course we would have preferred the clause to have
remained unchanged, we understand that the Justice Secretary will
be able to introduce prison sentences if illegal activity
continues," said an ICO statement. "Our aim has always been to
deter and this will now be a powerful Sword of Damocles hanging
over the heads of anyone involved in obtaining personal data."
The ICO said, though, that the Government's reliance on fines
instead of jail threats was unlikely to be successful.
"The prospect of unlimited fines has not deterred people from
engaging in the illegal market in personal information," it said.
"The Government had recognised that a custodial sentence was needed
to deter those who steal data. The Information Commissioner is
pleased that the government has apparently resisted substantial
pressure to abandon clause 76."
The second of Lord Hunt's clauses introduced a public interest
defence to clause 55 of the Data Protection Act, giving journalists
a defence if their obtaining, disclosing or procuring of
information could be justified as being in the public interest.
Media groups have been lobbying the Government in recent weeks
not to introduce the jail term, and the Information Commissioner
released a statement last week urging the Government to stand by
its proposals.
There are other ways in which journalists can land in jail,
though. Last year News Of The World royal reporter Clive Goodman
was jailed for four months after admitting to hacking into the
mobile phone voicemail of royal employees.
Goodman was found guilty of offences under anti-bugging law the
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
