Two former RAC employees have been given suspended prison sentences and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work for unlawfully copying personal information at work and selling it to third parties.

They both worked as customer service specialists at the RAC’s call centre in Stretford. Their unlawful conduct was reported to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after the RAC installed new security monitoring software.

This showed that one had unlawfully accessed and copied personal information relating to people involved in road traffic accidents. A subsequent search of their mobile phone showed the information was shared in a WhatsApp chat with the second defendant.

Messages indicated that a third party was paying for the information.

Both defendants, having previously pleaded guilty to offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and Data Protection Act 2018, received six-month prison sentences, suspended for 18 months.

Head of ICO Investigations, Andy Curry, said: “Accessing people’s personal information when there isn’t a business need to do so is against the law. To then take steps to profit from other people’s misfortune by selling that information is appalling. We will always take action to protect the public from this type of unlawful behaviour.”

The ICO can take action to change the behaviour of organisations and individuals that collect, use and keep personal information, he continued. This includes criminal prosecution, non-criminal enforcement and audit.

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