Firms ‘sold workers’ secret data

There have been a number of headlines this

week about a Droitwich consulting company that
has allegedly collected and provided information
about job applicants.
It seems that a number of construction
companies who subscribed to the 'service' would
provide the company with descriptions of
employees such as, 'ex-shop steward' in return
for information about people they planned to
interview.
Read the full news story here

Suggestions for use in class

Every GCSE and AS course requires students to be familiar with the DPA. Students could be
given the questions below as a homework task to provide them with some contextual
knowledge.
Questions for students
1. In no more than two sentences, explain the purpose of the Data Protection Act.
2. The Information Commissioner is said to be investigating the company named in the news
story. Who is the current Information Commissioner and what is his role?
3. With reference to the news story, outline what the company in question has allegedly done.
4. The Information Commissioner said that the company had committed a "serious breach of
the Data Protection Act". What do you think he meant by this statement?
5. Information such as 'ex-shop steward' would be classed as sensitive data.
a) Explain what is meant by sensitive data
b) Explain why 'ex-shop steward' would be classed as sensitive data
6. If the owner of the firm is found to be guilty of the charges what punishment might he face?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7927487.stm

Firm 'sold workers' secret data'

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A company that
allegedly sold workers'
personal details,
including union
activities, to building
firms is to be
prosecuted by the
information watchdog. Some workers who raised safety issues were allegedly
blacklisted
The Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO) said the Consulting Association, in
Droitwich, had committed a "serious breach" of the Data
Protection Act.
The ICO said a secret system had been run for over 15 years
to enable firms to unlawfully vet job applicants.
Unions have called on the government to outlaw "blacklisting"
practices.
A spokesman for the Department for Business said it did have
the power to make blacklists illegal and would "review whether
to use this power if there was compelling evidence that
blacklists were being used".
'Bad egg'
Around 40 construction companies who subscribed to the
scheme would send lists of prospective employees to The
Consulting Association, who would then warn them about
potential troublemakers.
Some of the notes uncovered by an ICO raid on the
association's offices included descriptions such as "ex-shop
steward, definite problems", "Irish ex-Army, bad egg".
Other notes related to workers who had raised concerns over
health and safety issues on sites, such as asbestos removal.
The owner of the Consulting Association Ian Kerr - which is
now believed to have ceased trading - faces prosecution and a
£5,000 fine if found guilty of breaching the Data Protection
Act.
The act outlaws the collection and distribution of secret
information on individuals without their knowledge.

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Deputy information commissioner David Smith on the data protection
breach

Deputy Information Commissioner David Smith said the

company should have registered itself with the ICO and
therefore qualified for a "clear prosecution" under the act.
He said he was also deeply disappointed that firms he
described as "household names" had been involved in an
allegedly illegal system for many years.
He said they would be issued with a legal order not to repeat
the offence, and if they breached it they too would face
prosecution.
"You would have thought they would have got the data
protection message by now," he said.
The firms include well-known construction companies such as
Taylor Woodrow, Laing O'Rourke and Balfour Beatty.
Balfour Beatty said it would co-operate with the ICO
investigation, and that it did not condone the use of blacklists
"in any circumstances".
Other companies either said they would conduct their own
investigation, or had "inherited" their links with the Consulting
Association from previous firms they had taken over.
The Consulting Association was unavailable for comment.
Blacklisted worker
One worker told the BBC he believed he was on the alleged
blacklist, because he had found it hard to get work ever since
winning a case for unfair dismissal in 2000.
He said that even though he and fellow workers won their
case, and then defeated the firm again on appeal, he had
suffered as a result.
"Prior to 2000 I could get work on the most prestigious of

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contracts, but since then not a single agency has called to
offer work," he said.
Blacklisting remains rampant in the

21st century

Alan Ritchie

Building workers' union Ucatt

Should builders be monitored?

'I was blacklisted for speaking up'

He said that he had been sacked from three different jobs, and
had lost "a couple of hundred thousand pounds" in missed
work.
"Even though I was the victim, they [the companies] have
punished me ever since," he said.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said he was "sorry the
practices have taken place" and welcomed the intervention of
the information commissioner.
"He will need to look into this further to see whether these
practices are more widespread and take the appropriate
action, as he's already done in this case," the minister added.
'Outlaw blacklists'
Not only was the database held without the workers' consent,
but the existence of it was repeatedly denied.
Following the raid on 23 February, investigators discovered
that the Consulting Association's database contained the
details of some 3,213 workers, the ICO said.
Data included information concerning personal relationships,
trade union activity and employment history, it added.
Employers paid £3,000 as an annual fee, and £2.20 for
individual details, the ICO said. Invoices to construction firms
for up to £7,500 were also seized during the raid.
The government needs to act now to

prevent this discrimination that can blight

the lives of many workers

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 Labour MP John McDonnell

List of database subscribers

How firms should obey data law

The ICO's revelations led to calls for the government to bring

forward anti-blacklisting regulations which were prepared but
never introduced.
Alan Ritchie, general secretary of the building workers' union
Ucatt, said: "Blacklisting remains rampant in the 21st Century.
"We will be writing to the government immediately,
demanding that they bring forward the existing regulations
and introduce them into law immediately. It is the only way to
protect the rights of trade union members."
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber backed the call to
introduce strict new laws, calling the revelations "deplorable".
"Not only has information about workers' union membership
been recorded and shared, but personal details have also been
revealed," he said.
"The government must act now and bring in the 1999
blacklisting regulations, to give workers proper protection and
access to redress."
Labour MP John McDonnell said: "This latest expose of
blacklisting demonstrates that blacklisting is still rampant in
some industries.
"The government must act swiftly now to outlaw blacklisting
once and for all.
"It is widely suspected that the government caved in under
pressure from employers' organisations when I raised this
issue last time in Parliament.
"This new evidence demonstrates that the government needs
to act, and act now, to prevent this discrimination that can
blight the lives of many workers."

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