The Scotsman reveals that the DVLA have been selling drivers’ personal details to firms, some of which are run by convicted criminals. At a cost of only 3,000GBP a year, firms including a clamping company found guilty of extorting thousands of pounds from individuals have been able to directly access the DVLA’s database, finding home addresses for people using only their car’s number plate. The Information Commissioner is set to investigate claims that the DVLA have breached data protection laws. They have certainly betrayed the trust of millions of drivers.
Of course, those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear. However, in the case of criminals accessing your data and potentially discovering that your car and you are hundreds of miles away from your probably empty home, we all have something to fear. The National Identity Register will only open more security holes such as this in all our lives. We have no guarantee that our data will not be sold on at bargain prices to whoever comes asking. Indeed, it seems likely that to maintain an “affordable” scheme our data will have to become such a commodity.
NO2ID NewsBlog � Blog Archive � Government department selling YOUR details to criminals: Filed in: ID_cards, UK, costs, data, sales, crime
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