Going public
In Britain, the Data Protection Act bans any selling on of data without consent from customers, with successful prosecution leading to £5,000 fines. But Graham says those fines are just not enough and has called for more stringent punishments to be thrown at data pirates.
"The existing paltry fines ... are simply not enough to deter people from engaging in this lucrative criminal activity," he said adding, "the threat of jail, not fines, will prove a stronger deterrent."
The information office is currently in the process of considering all the evidence and preparing to prosecute the employees responsible.
According to reports, T-Mobile spokespeople were calling the incident "deeply regrettable" and the firm said it took "the protection of customer information seriously."
The firm also says it is now doing it utmost to work with the Information office to find the data mole and that it will work towards stamping out "what is a problem for the whole industry".
But as you can see from the final part of its statement, T-Mobile is none too happy about the Information Commissioner going public on this case, without apparent warning, and when T-Mobile feels it was trying to do the right thing. Graham clearly has his own agenda, and is not shy about pursuing it.
