Yes – and that won’t look good on a CV
I was reading the enforcement cases on the Information Commissioner’s Office website the other day.
Yes I know this may sound like something only a data “geek” would do, and I don’t claim to be one of those, but sometimes you find some interesting things.
What caught my eye was a story about the ICO starting criminal proceedings against 8 individuals for allegedly accessing personal data on the databases of vehicle repair garages to gain “leads” for personal injury claims.
They gained access to the systems between December 2014 and November 2017 and took personal data relating to hundreds of thousands of customers who used the garages to repair accident damage. The garages were unaware of the activity
Personally speaking, the garages should have been aware of this, as they obviously have a responsibility to protect this data, but this is not part of the current case. There may well be further action around this in the future, as the investigation was a complex one, and I would suggest the actions or inactions of the garages concerned formed a part.
The individuals face charges under section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which carries a sentence of up to 2 years imprisonment, and section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998, which is punishable by a fine, as the alleged offences happened before the introduction of the GDPR. However there are similar criminal provisions in the UK GDPR, should offences since May 2018 come to light.
You will all agree that this is an example of how NOT to do lead generation.
And when it comes to the use of personal data in marketing, it is easy to forget that there are a number of negative consequences of getting it wrong, a criminal conviction is just one. Lead generation already has a less than rosy reputation, but it can be done legally and with a good ROI.
So, I hear you ask, how do we do it legally? Well, you start by knowing the rules and then applying them to your activities.
Simple?
No, this can be confusing and complicated for many business owners, so if you are looking at using lead generation services, and you want to make sure you do this legally…..