From the September 2013 print issue of Professional Security magazine, our regular contributor Jim Gannon.
The revelations made public in recent weeks about illegal data peddlers does nothing to enhance the reputation of the private security industry and serves only to tarnish specifically at least one section of the private security community, writes our regular contributor Jim Gannon.
A confidential list of 102 companies and organisations within the UK, compiled by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has been passed to government ministers on the condition that none are made public. So far SOCA has refused to reveal these organisations’ identities, on the basis that there is no conclusive proof that they actually used the illegal services themselves but went through third and forth party intermediaries, to obtain information which should not have been made known. It’s a well known fact that organisations rarely risk getting involved with dodgy operators themselves but have a series of middle-men who do. Being two or three places from the actual source, offers them some kind of comfort factor and a vague sort of naivety when presented with private data, which could never have been obtained legally.
SOCA discovered that private investigators and so-called enquiry agents working with corrupt police officers, public officials and others, used illegal methods to obtain personal data which was subsequently passed on for a fee. This appetite for private information has created an industry in illegal data peddling and while government ministers and MPs alike are condemning the secrecy surrounding the identified organisations, it is felt that there is a lot more to come out into the public domain. It is likely to be far greater than what was considered by some to be the whitewashed telephone hacking inquiry conducted by Levison.
Tip of the Iceberg
The News of the World telephone hacking story was front page news for a long time which many felt went a lot deeper than Fleet Street. Some organisations were having sleepless nights hoping the focus would remain solely on Fleet Street. Illegal phone tapping has been around for a long time in our industry, but illegal data mining has grown in momentum simply because of the demand for it. The success or failure of an insurance claim, a business deal, a court case or a financial transaction more often than not hinges on confidential information and the long-standing quote that ‘knowledge is power’ seems to be the main driver for illegally obtained personal, private or confidential information. Such is the demand now for this type of information that there is evidence to suggest that private investigators will infiltrate and recruit people in the police, HM Prison Service, benefit agencies and public services, as well as other organisations that may prove useful in obtaining confidential information. Often such people will work on retainers to keep them onside and in the loop.
Normally people described as the untouchables would have shrunk away from such practices but such is the lure of easy money coupled with the small risk of getting caught , that they fall easy prey to those working in the illicit data mining industry.
Prosecutions for these type of offences are few and far between and the fines imposed are relatively small in comparison with some of the fees which can be earned. The current attitude adopted by the authorities seems to be low key and the old description of snooping appears to have stuck in some areas. Even those in our industry who have been convicted appear to have carried on regardless using established contacts who escaped without being detected for parting with confidential information. While it is an accepted fact that corruption is a way of life in many of the countries outside of the UK and whilst we may feel we are a ‘cut above’ the rest, when it comes to the corruption of our public officials, the sad fact is however that the fine line is getting thinner as data technology makes it simpler and our standard of moral ethics appears to be diminishing as the decades roll on.
What of the victims?
A few years back it was enquiry agents looking into matrimonial affairs, missing persons, tracing debtors, false insurance claimants and benefit scroungers but the escalation of ‘no win, no fee’ organisations soon altered the cultural approach of this nation of ours into that nearer to the United States where anything goes when it comes to a ‘something for nothing’ mindset. The scramble for confidential information by commercial organisations, that now have an even more urgent need for establishing a competitive advantage; or those firms and businesses who need to defend their positions have opened up the way for opportunists to exploit the sources normally considered to be totally confidential. There is always going to be a victim or a loser in this game play and whilst there is always going to be people around willing to pay the price for information they need and those prepared to give such information if the price is right, I cannot visualise change any time soon.
