By James Simons-
A former company director has been lightly fined after being found guilty of illegally obtaining personal data and selling it on to solicitors chasing personal injury claims..
Cullen first pleaded guilty to 21 charges of unlawfully obtaining and selling personal data in breach of section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998, when he appeared before Manchester City & Salford Magistrates Court in September 2018. Last week, Cullen was fined £1,050 at Manchester Crown Court and ordered to pay £250 costs. He was also disqualified from being a company director for five years .
An order was also made for the forfeiture and destruction of items which were seized as part of a search warrant in 2012. During the raid on Cullen’s business, a number of computer devices and documents were seized containing the unlawfully obtained data. However, the court were unable to recover the £1.4m he fraudulently obtained by selling illegal data.
David Cullen was the managing director of Manchester-based No1 Accident Claims Limited until the company was liquidated in December 2012. The Information CommissIon Office(ICO) confirmed he was fined for breaches of data protection and also issued with a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Collins business profited from selling illegally obtained personal data to solicitors. The data he sold belonged to people involved in road accidents, and could be used to pursue personal injury claims.
The exact figure which Cullen earned from his illegal activities is £1,434,679.60. Due to a lack of assets, the court proceeded by making a £1 nominal order. The ICO said that Cullen’s financial circumstances will be regularly reviewed, and should they improve, the amount of the confiscation order can be increased.
“The volume of confidential personal information found in Cullen’s possession showed his blatant disregard of people’s right to privacy and our data protection laws,” said Michael Shaw, ICO’s group manager for enforcement.
“The confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act is a warning shot to anyone using or thinking about using personal data illegally. We can and will take action which can have a huge effect on your personal life including confiscating assets and earnings – whatever they may be.”
It’s the second time in a week that the ICO has made an announcement regarding criminally processed accident claims data. Teams from the ICO enforcement department exercised warrants to raid two Liverpool properties on suspicion of data farming on 28 June. The information obtained and sold also concerned illegally obtained motor accident data.