The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a press release indicating that Ian Kerr, owner of a firm trading as the Consulting Association, has been fined £5,000 by Knutsford Crown Court for breaching the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), and has been ordered to pay costs of £1,187. Mr Kerr had pleaded guilty to failing to notify as a data controller at Macclesfield Magistrates Court, which transferred the case for sentencing to the Crown Court (see Legal update, Owner of construction-worker database pleads guilty to data protection offences). An ICO investigation revealed that Mr Kerr had been operating a database for over 15 years containing details on 3,213 construction workers, including information about their trade union activity and employment history, which was used by over 40 construction companies to vet individuals for employment. The ICO also indicated in its press release that it intends to serve enforcement notices on 17 construction companies who were involved in using the database maintained by Mr Kerr. It said preliminary enforcement notices had been sent out, with formal enforcement action to follow shortly, subject to any representations made by the companies. Source: ICO press release, 16 July 2009.
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