I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

[Skally]

They were strewn about the back of a street possibly from a binbag that was torn open.
The paperwork consists of forms containing names, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth & national insurance numbers.
Among these forms are scraps of paper with hand-written notes detailing credit/debit card details (including start dates, end dates, security numbers) and the total payments I presume are to be taken from each card.
Isn't this dumping of confidential information in breach of the Data Protection Act? Obviously I don't intend to use any of this for identity theft and I only took them out of the back lane so no-one could use the details maliciously. I just didn't know whether I should hand them in to the police, the bailiff himself (they letters have his signature & mobile number), the company that the bailiff works for, or the council for whom the bailiffs are recovering council tax.
Also, am I likely to be prosecuted for having them in my possession right now? What about the bailiff whose name is signed at the bottom of the papers, will he be prosecuted too?
Any sound, practical advice is greatly appreciated!

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

HI

Any update on this?

D

[bluebottle]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

Skally, check your inbox.

[bluebottle]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

ICO SWAT team

http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/...n/dp_pecr.aspx

Lots of busts here

They don't mess around once they've got the evidence together.

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

ICO SWAT team

http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/...n/dp_pecr.aspx

Lots of busts here

[MIKE770]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

Should I say who it is in a public forum? Surely that alone tips them off and I want the first they know about it to be this ICO Swat Team! Kx

could PM Bluebottle

[bluebottle]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

Hmm

The story about the email addresses states n the last paragraph,

"The spokeswoman at the Information Commissioner's Office said she was not aware of any complaints as yet, but the case could be a potential breach of the Data Protection Act."

This leads me to believe that they will not take disciplinary action unless there is a complaint from the data subject.
I think it may be different if it is in the public interest. but i wonder if this case would have come to light if it had not been leaked to the media.

D

In the A4e case, the ICO hit them with either a £40,000 or £60,000 Financial Penalty Notice (FPN) as A4e were found to have been lax in their security of the data involved. Some of A4e's clients were affected.

What action gets taken will depend very much on what the ICO finds when they carry out their investigation into the OP's discovery.

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

Hmm

The story about the email addresses states n the last paragraph,

"The spokeswoman at the Information Commissioner's Office said she was not aware of any complaints as yet, but the case could be a potential breach of the Data Protection Act."

This leads me to believe that they will not take disciplinary action unless there is a complaint from the data subject.
I think it may be different if it is in the public interest. but i wonder if this case would have come to light if it had not been leaked to the media.

D

[bluebottle]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

I would wager that these types of cases are reported to the ICO all the time, but they never come to light because no one can be bothered to make an official complaint.

It seems the ICO only acts on a complaint from the data subject, unless there is a major public interest issue.

D

In practice, the ICO acts on complaints from data subjects and other sources. In a case involving A4e, an A4e employee's home was broken into and a laptop, containing sensitive information about A4e clients, which was not encrypted, was stolen. Even though, it was A4e that alerted the ICO to the incident, the ICO contacted the clients to check if any detriment had occurred. It's not a very pleasant task to have to tell someone something like that, but it is something that has to be done, even if the person has not, at that stage, made a complaint.

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

I would wager that these types of cases are reported to the ICO all the time, but they never come to light because no one can be bothered to make an official complaint.

It seems the ICO only acts on a complaint from the data subject, unless there is a major public interest issue.

D

[bluebottle]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

The most likely thing that will happen now that the ICO has possession of the papers is every person whose name appears on the papers will be contacted and checks made to establish if they have suffered any loss or any identity security issues have come to light. Depending on how many people are involved, this can take some time. Once the ICO has a clearer picture of the gravity of the bailiff company's carelessness, a decision will be made as to the eventual disposal of the case.

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

That's the fella

D

[leclerc]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

Thanks for putting that up.

Took me 30 seconds with the basic information on Google albeit I know what I am looking for, lol!

[ploddertom]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

Thanks for putting that up.

[leclerc]

Re: I've found paperwork dumped by a bailiff!

Have you got a link for it?

yes i have
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7775353.stm