Secret Database Uncovered

Posted in 'Identity Theft' by Barry Stamp

12 March 2009

The Information Commissioner has raided the Droitwich offices of The Consulting Association, run by private detective Ian Kerr, and has uncovered a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.

More than 40 construction companies including Taylor Woodrow, Laing O'Rourke and Balfour Beatty have been using an unlawful and secret database run by The Consulting Association to vet job applicants for more than 15 years. Each search cost £2.20 in addition to an annual fee of £3,000.

The Consulting Association's database contained details of 3,213 workers covering aspects such as personal relationships, trade union activity, inappropriate comments and employment history.

In addition to not being registered under the Data Protection Act to keep data, no consents have ever been obtained from the persons listed on the database to use the information in this manner.

Employers are only able to search your personal data with your consent, and for those in the financial services industry, employers are under an obligation to carry out credit searches on you before you take up employment, and regularly afterwards.

The extent of data that employers are lawfully able to see about you is the public information contained on your credit report. This is electoral roll information, court information including county court judgments and decrees and insolvency information such as bankruptcy, sequestration and administration order data, together with any notices of correction you may have placed on your credit report.

You can see exactly the data that is usually seen by purchasing a Single Agency Report and basing this on Experian data. Or choose a Single Agency Report based on Callcredit data, and just look at the electoral roll, court information and insolvency sections. Employers are not able to see your payment history or fraud information that may be recorded against your address.