O2 violates the provisions of the Data Protection Act – May face fine up to 500,000 Pounds

O2 is alleged to have shared its customers’ phone numbers with the websites they visited in violation of the provisions of The Data Protection Act for which it could face a fine up to 500,000 Pounds.

As the Office of the Information Commissioner is flooded with queries and complaints about the recent privacy breach, the ICO (The Information Commissioner’s Office) is forced to post a note on its website requesting the public not to submit any more complaints.

When the breach was discovered, O2 expressed its remorsefulness and said that the technical changes that it had introduced as part of maintenance is the cause of the mishap. The breach was discovered by a web systems administrator. The breach happened during January 10 – 25.

A spokesman of O2 told Mobile that the firm had already identified the cause of the issue and that they are taking measures to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

Mobile was told by a spokeswoman of ICO that the investigation of the issue will take some time depending on the complicated nature of the case. She continued that it is a very important issue since the public at large is concerned about it. The breach has affected the interest of a large number of people. She added that until the investigation is completed, the Information Commissioner would not discuss the breach. When enquired about the potential penalties O2 would face, she replied it may go up to 500,000 Pounds.

The spokeswoman said that it is the first time the ICO come across this type of data breach. The last serious data loss was reported in 2008. Two former employees of T-Mobile stole customer information and sold it. After investigation by the ICO, the two culprits were ordered to pay fines and confiscation costs to the tune of 73,700 Pounds.

Rival operators stressed that when their customers were browsing the internet on their phones, they did not share mobile numbers with websites. Libby Pritchard, Vodafone’s head of corporate responsibility, said that the operator would share mobile numbers only to companies that offer services that are billed through a mobile or for the functioning requirement of a mobile, like ring tone suppliers. It is to be noted here that these companies are Vodafone UK approved partners and they are subject to security check. To protect the privacy of customers the firm is following all these stringent measures

Andy Kellett, Ovum senior analyst said that the length of the time that the breach happened is the cause of concern. For more than two weeks while people were collecting data, with out their knowledge, their personal data was being transferred. Yet another thing is that O2 has no adequate security system in place to identify such occurrences.

Compare Mobile Phone Prices

BlackBerry Torch 9800

• 1000 Minutes
• Unlimited Texts
• 500 MB
• 24 Months

• £30.00/Month
• 

Sony Ericsson Xperia arc

• 600 Minutes
• 500 MB
• Unlimited Texts
• 24 Months

• £30.00/Month
• 

Samsung Galaxy S II

• 900 Minutes
• Unlimited Texts
• 500 MB

• £31.00/Month
• 

Comments